TES Episode 8: The Detrossian Cometh
by John the Enforcer
Summary: Bringing in another couple of my friend Neon Dragon's characters for the eighth episode...are their intentions pure...or foul...


THE ENFORCER SAGA  
  
Chapter 8: The Detrossian Cometh  
  
By   
  
John "the Echidna" Fadeley  
  
They say that evil wears many masks, and that none are more villainous than the mask of virtue. When one must act like a friend and appear to do the right thing...only to instead be in league with the forces of evil. Or when one only acts like a friend, only to suit their own agendas. Truly, there cannot be people more foul than those who would claim to be virtuous...only to stab the ones they've led to trust in the back! Thus, the following is one of those cases....  
  
The date: September 20th, 3237, 10:15 AM  
  
The place: A tunnel on a world hidden from the rest of the galaxy...  
  
As he was led to the High Council Chambers, he sneered at the guards that pulled his chains and ensured that he kept moving. Such weak-minded beings...and weaker still in comparison to the power he wielded.  
  
The being in question was a black Detrossian dragon. He had slightly grey hair, grey wings, a row of blood-red spikes that led from the space between his eyes to the back of his head. He wore a black overcoat, white pants, and a white shirt.   
  
He was brought into the dome-shaped chamber. He looked and saw the High Council of Detrossa. Each member there represented a different part of the world's elemental environments and each one held an ornamental staff.  
  
The represtative of the watery realm of Hydrosa was a teenage female. Like most of her kind in the particular region, her wings looked like the fins of a fish. Her clothes resembled an ocean full of many of the planet's colorful, aquatic...albeit, less-sentient creatures. Her staff was made of a purple-ish pink coral, with a long skeleton of an eel wrapped around it. Her kind lived in cities carved into underwater coral reefs and large structures shaped like sea-shells. It was the first time he had ever seen an Hydrosan Detrossian in his life and, if it weren't for the the frown on her face as he was brought in, he thought she was quite lovely.  
  
The representative of sky-based realm of Aerisa was a male. His kind were spindly, had slightly-blue skin, had long necks, and far narrower heads than the other species of Detrossians. His wings were larger, as they were suited for the fully airborne race. His robes were many shades of blue and white, like the sky. His staff was made of thick glass and contained swirling clouds of grey. His kind dwelled in cities that would float over many of Detrossa's lands like clouds.   
  
Firaro's Council member was a male, too. He, like many members of his kind from the volcano-laden region, had red scales, a line of long and sharp spikes leading from the top of his head to the end of his tail. His clothes were mostly black, but had red lines amidst the areas of black, like lava about to erupt from the ground. His staff was made of cooled lava and still smelled of sulfur. The Firaroans lived in cities that stood over the many pools of lava and collected geothermal energy for power. He could almost feel the member's angry eyes burning into him.   
  
Granitus' Council member was brownish-grey, had lesser developed wings than the other council members (since he was of the underground realm's people, their wings were chiefly for gliding), and long claws suited for digging in Detrossa's underground realm. His clothes were mostly a dark brown with cracks of white, like bones of the buried. His staff was a thin stalactice that he broke off from a cavern celing himself. His kind had many great cities in the underground realm, like colonies of ants.  
  
The dark green-skinned female representative of Botanicular was just taking her seat in the Council Chambers. Her wings resembled large leaves, and she held a staff made of slenderly-carved wood, with flowers acting like ornamental jewels. Her clothes resembed green ferns spread over many autumn leaves. Her fellow citizens lived amidst the large trees of Botanicular, living in harmony with the many plants that surround them.  
  
Naturally, there were no Detrossians to represent either of their world's freezing poles. To be stranded in either of these regions was to wind up as a frozen corpse, seeing as all Detrossians had a severe weakness to sub-zero temperatures.  
  
The ruling member of the Council, a grand golden dragon named Kerackus, took his place at the center of the long podium where the other members were seated. His eyes resembled pools of melted silver, and his hair was a bronze-ish color. His robes were highly ornamental. His staff was golden, and the top of it had many jewels of many colors. He was also the standing ruler of the central city of Rackernaroon. He respectfully nodded to the members of the Council, who gave respectful nods back.  
  
The prisoner was forced down into a seat and had his chains removed.  
  
"This meeting of the High Council is now in session." Kerackus stated in his proud tenor. He then made one pound on the floor with his staff to signal the beginning of the trial.  
  
"The prisoner Magmus shall rise." Kerackus requested.  
  
"I'll sit, thank you." Magmus remarked in an arrogant tone of voice.  
  
"ON YOUR FEET, YOU MURDEROUS DOG!" Firora's representative roared in full rage.  
  
"Council Member Pyrus, calm yourself." Kerackus said with a swift pound of his staff on the ground.  
  
Grumbling a little, Pyrus sat down, but not before casting a glance at Magmus that would have killed a charging bantha.  
  
"You do realize that you've committed a serious crime, don't you, young man?" Kerackus asked while giving Magmus a grave look, "Doesn't that bother your conscience in the least?"  
  
"It would...if I actually had a conscience, you old goat." Magmus remarked while looking at his nails.  
  
Pyrus growled and yelled, "DAMN YOU! You've murdered Firion, who was beloved by our people, and all you can do is make disrespectful remarks!!!"  
  
Magmus yawned and said, "He deserved what he got. Quite frankly, I'm glad he's dead..."  
  
Kerackus aimed his staff at Magmus. A dark red mist flew from the glowing jewels on his staff and shut the arrogant murderer's mouth.  
  
"Thank you." Pyrus said to Kerackus.  
  
Aquaissa, Hydrosa's young representative, shook her head, and said, "It is hard to believe. After so many years of peace and tranquility, we've had our first murder in ages. What could have possibley driven him to this?"  
  
"As best I've heard, it was due to jealousy." Fawack, Granitus' representative, stated, "Firion took in another pupil to teach in the ways of magic."  
  
"Perchance, what was the other pupil's name?" Dralias, Botanicular's representative, asked.  
  
"Hyro, Lady Dralius." Nimbuctar, Aerisa's representative said with a nod.  
  
"This is irrelevant!" Pyrus erupted, "The fact remains that Firion was murdered by this arrogant youth!"  
  
Kerackus shook his head and said, "Lord Pyrus, I know how much Firion meant to you as he was a dear friend of your family...but you must calm down."  
  
"Firion was like a brother that I never had." Pyrus said, shedding a tear, "Which is why I want Magmus to suffer for his crime!"  
  
Aquaissa nodded, saying, "I'm afraid I'm inclined to agree with Lord Pyrus. If Magmus is turned loose, he could be capable of sending battering waves upon my people's cities."  
  
"Or caving in my people's homes." Fawack added.  
  
"Or causing mine to fall out of the sky." Nimbuctar added further.  
  
Dralius shook her head and said, "Surely there must be some good in him."  
  
"Absolutely absurd!" Pyrus snapped, "I recommend that he be dumped into the freezing lands of Arctis for his crime!"  
  
Kerackus, stroking his drooping mustache, said, "Let's put it to a vote. All in favor of Lord Pyrus's proposed sentence?"  
  
Fawack, Aquaissa, Nimbuctar, and, naturally, Pyrus raised their staffs. Dralius lowered her head.  
  
"Then it is agreed, by majority vote." Kerackus stated. He once again aimed his staff at Magmus. This time, the dark red mist over the prisoner's mouth shifted to going around his wrists like handcuffs.  
  
"Magmus, by majority vote of the High Council of Detrossa, for the murder of the great sorceror Firion, you are hereby sentenced..." Kerackus began to decree.  
  
"Begging the High Council's pardon..." a green Detrossian said as he entered the room. He had blue spans of scales in his wings, red and blue hair, and a row of blue spikes running from between his eyes to the tip of his tail. He wore black boots, blue pants, a white muscle shirt, an aqua-colored denim jacket, and a pair of shades.  
  
"The Council recognizes Hyro of the city of Rackernaroon, student of the late Firion." Kerackus stated.  
  
"Why have you come here, lad?" Lord Pyrus asked, "We were about to pass sentence upon the murderer of your Master."  
  
"If I may, I believe I have found two Detrossian prescences...off-world, sir." Hyro reported.  
  
There was an instant murmur amongst the council members. No Detrossian was ever found away from their homeworld of Detrossa. Detrossa was hidden in a dimensional warp with good reason: because of its peoples' powers, the rest of the galaxy would be after them, to use them for all the wrong reasons.  
  
"Where have these two prescences been found?" Fawack asked.  
  
Hyro replied, "In the Mobadan system, on its third planet: Mobius."  
  
"How is it possible?" Aquaissa asked, "There is no possible way that any of our kind could have been separated from our world."  
  
Kerackus stroked his moustach, and said, "The law of Detrossa is clear: these two Detrossians must be returned to our world. Hyro, I feel that you should take up this task."  
  
"Better yet...with all due respect, High Council Member Kerackus...might I suggest that Magmus be sent to retrieve these wayward citizens." Hyro suggested.  
  
Pyrus loudly objected, "Absolutely not!!! If anything, he'll kill those who have been separated from our world!"  
  
"That might be possible...but, Master Firion was known to forgive. Perhaps it was our rivalry that led to our master's death. In any case, if Firion was still alive, he would forgive Magmus, for his misguided ways and misunderstandings." Hyro stated.  
  
"It will take more than pretty words to save his arrogant hide!" Pyrus roared, "I move that his sentence be carried out immediately!"  
  
Dralius stood up and said, "I, for one, think not! If there is any goodness in Magmus, I want to see it proved...as he returns these lost bakossas back to the herd."  
  
"We shall settle this arguement by majority vote!" Kerackus said with a smack of his staff on the ground, "All in favor of Magmus's sentence being carried out?"  
  
Pyrus and Fawack raised their staffs high.  
  
"All in favor of his being sent to the world of Mobius to retrieve these two Detrossians?" Kerackus asked.  
  
Aquaissa, Nimbuctar, and Dralius raised their ornamental staffs. Pyrus snorted harshly, two whisps of smoke flowing out of his nose.  
  
"Then...it is settled. Magmus, pupil of the great...and unfortunately, late sorceror Firion, you are now charged with the mission to reunite these Mobius-bound members of our world within a period of 31 days. If you succeed, you shall be granted a full pardon. Should you fail...or return to Detrossa without our lost people, your sentence will be carried out. Is this understood?"  
  
"Understood." Magmus muttered, glaring at Hyro.  
  
"Hyro, I will leave it up to you to lead Magmus to the Portal Temple and prepare the dimensional portal to send Magmus on his way. This meeting is now adjourned." Kerackus announced, following it up with a couple of swift pounds of his staff.  
  
A while later, at the Portal Temple...  
  
As Hyro, Magmus, and a couple of guards approached the portal that would lead to Mobius, Hyro turned to the guards and said, "Guards, leave us. I'll have a few words with Magmus before he leaves."   
  
The guards looked at each other, shrugged, and left.  
  
"Alright...what is this all about, Hyro, you piece of mugwark bait?!" Magmus whispered harshly, "You obviously didn't do this out of the goodness of your heart."  
  
"Naturally. I know you'll fail, Magmus." Hyro gloated, "You don't have the heart to help these wayward Detrossians back to our world. You'll either kill them or try and escape the High Council's mandate. Whatever negative choice you take...well, I'll enjoy watching you freeze to death."  
  
"Says you, you cowardly bastard!!!" Magmus roared as he charged at Hyro...only to be tripped and sent tumbling into the dimensional warp.  
  
"See you as an icicle, sucker!!!" Hyro called after him as he closed the portal.  
  
The place: The surface of the Floating Island of Mobius  
  
The time: 3:00 PM.  
  
As the portal opened, Magmus fell down onto a grassy plain. He recovered from his fall, shook his head, then looked around. He heard what sounded like ocean waves...from below?  
  
He went over to an edge, thinking he was atop a cliff...and gasped a bit when he saw that the piece of land he was standing on was floating in the air!  
  
"What sorcery is this?" he wondered.  
  
He heard some muffled shouts and felt a rapid bit of kicking at his chest. He looked and saw a shirt pocket bulging. After rolling his eyes, he opened the pocket. "Well, it's about time you let me out! Somebody could get claustraphobia in there." a small voice snapped at him.  
  
The owner of that voice flew out of his pocket. It was a small, red creature about as big as Magmus' hand. It had black tufts of fur on the tips of its ears, grey eyes, black wings, a pair of thin horns on top of its head, and a peach colored snout and fur coloration on its torso, span between the elbows and wrists, and tip of the tail. On its wrist and right horn was a metal ring, it wore a grey veil-like cloth that hung down to its ankles, and a manacle with chains leading down to its hips. One could instantly tell from the figure that it was a female.  
  
"Don't make me regret bringing you out, Rieko." Magmus growled, "I assume you know what's going on."  
  
"Well, let's see...we've been booted off of Detrossa to find a couple of wayward Detrossians here on some backwater planet and send them back home." Rieko said while shaking her head, "And we're doing this just so you can be granted a pardon for killing Firion. Nice way to endear yourself to the rest of Detrossa, Magmus!"  
  
"Well, it was good to get off that ugly lump of rock, anyway." Magmus said while looking about, "This world is a vast improvement over Detrossa."  
  
"So...how shall we conduct our search for these lost lambs?" Rieko asked, "I mean, we wouldn't end up here specifically unless this is where we're meant to be."  
  
"Let's split up." Magmus suggested, "If you happen to find them...well, I believe you know what to do."  
  
"Sure." Rieko said, "I'll reappear with you...then what?"  
  
"We'll deal with that when the time comes." Magmus replied.  
  
Meanwhile, two miles below them...  
  
The blue dreadlocked being, better known as John the Enforcer, stood in a room of FICC he named "Holographic Training Room 1". The surroundings resembled that of a martial arts dojo, complete with a calming fountain outside. But despite these calm surroundings, John was tense as he faced his opponent.  
  
The opponent in question was his wife, the lovely and feisty Princess Adonna-Lyn of Chandral, the fourth planet in the Mobadan system and sister planet of Mobius. She was wearing the same clothes as John: white martial arts student clothes, and a red belt around her hips. John was tense with good reason. Fighting skill-wise, Adonna-Lyn was his equal, able to keep up with him without breaking a sweat...a quality he found appealing in her.  
  
"Alright...BEGIN!" John shouted as he lunged forward.  
  
Adonna-Lyn smiled with a great deal of confidence and ran towards John. He began with a rapid slashing with his fist claws. Adonna-Lyn did a graceful back-flip...and kicked John right in the chin as she got back up on her feet. John fell backwards...and recovered by rolling back onto his feet.  
  
"Hope I didn't hurt you too badly, John." she said in her delicate-but-strong-and-defient voice. She really hoped John wasn't hurt. After all, John was her loving husband...ever since he bravely risked his life for her during his first time on her homeworld.  
  
"Are you kidding?" John laughed as he rubbed his chin, "I'm just getting warmed up."  
  
With that, they went at each other, kicking and punching, chopping and blocking at such a rapid pace, one would have needed to use a slow motion holo-recorder to capture all the action.  
  
John truly admired his wife. She was the only one in his life that matched him in his skills. Add that to the fact that she was so beautiful, graceful, fiery, and full of energy...  
  
She managed to land a hard punch that sent John flying across the dojo and crashing through the holographically-created wall!  
  
When he did not get back up immediately, she began to worry a bit. She called out, "Aptiva, close 'Dojo training room beta' and end session."  
  
With that, the image of the dojo and everything around her vanished. Her training clothes vanished as well, revealing her casual, dark blue, silken Chandralite garb. John's training clothes vanished too, revealing his standard clothes.  
  
She ran over to John, and heard him making some kind of choking noise. "John? John, are you alright?" she asked as she turned him over to face her.  
  
She then saw that John was laughing. "Oh, you...!" she said, a bit aggravated that he tricked her into worrying about him. Finally, she began laughing with him as he brought her close to him.  
  
"I just remembered that you did that to me when I first met you...and I just couldn't stop laughing." John explained. With that, he brought her close enough to kiss her.  
  
"Well, don't fake me out like that. You really had me worried." she said as she caressed his face with her two front pink dreadlocks.  
  
John smiled. He thought about how lucky he was, what with his vast fortune made in his career in bounty hunting, his many loyal friends, and, of course, his loving wife.  
  
Just then, there came a knocking at the Hologram Training Room doors. Adonna-Lyn got off of John and helped him up. John turned to the blast doors and requested, "Come in."  
  
Stepping into the room was John's chaemeleon lieutenant Espio. Adonna-Lyn didn't tolerate Espio at all. He was often rude, even a bit brutal with his treatment towards the other Chaotix, John's followers. He was also a bit contemptuous towards the female members of Floating Island Central Command, and that severely rubbed the echidna princess the wrong way.   
  
"Just thought I'd let you know that Neon Dragon went outside with her little pet for a little fresh air." he stated.  
  
"Very well. Is that all?" John asked.  
  
"That, and tonight's dinner reservation for two at 'The Floating Oasis' has been approved." Espio reported. As it was Adonna-Lyn's birthday, John wanted to take his blushing bride out to dinner.  
  
Espio then added, "Also, Aptiva detected a faint interdimensional anamoly in sector 784."   
  
That really caught John's attention. "An interdimensional anamoly?" John asked, "Of what nature?"  
  
"Well, it was in the aforementioned sector for maybe seven seconds before vanishing. It was possibley a dimensional portal opening...then closing." Espio replied.  
  
Adonna-Lyn looked at John, her fair face reflecting her concern. This could mean a number of possibilities: a demon, a remaining member of the dreaded Order of Darkness (the vile group of black magic-wielding Chandralites of which Blue Fang and Lady Screech were members of), or the spirit of Brutus the Arachna returning to Mobius's mortal plain to pursue his vengence...  
  
"Espio, send out the spydroids. I want this island on 'round-the-clock supervision, in case we are dealing with a possible threat." John commanded.  
  
"Yes, sir." the chaemeleon saluted.  
  
John turned to Adonna-Lyn and asked, "Do you sense anything?"  
  
She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. While her powers needed more work in the concentration and focusing department, she was still considerabley powerful, which also made her a perfect match for John, seeing as she was equally as powerful as he was. John could see the purple glow behind her eyelids, seeing that she was concentrating very hard.  
  
"I...don't...I don't really sense anything up there other than the citizens of Echidnopolis, Neon, and Caylis." she replied as the glow in her eyes faded, opening those enchanting eyes of hers, "How about you?"  
  
John closed his eyes. Adonna-Lyn knew that John was extremely powerful...enough that if his darker alter ego, "The Enforcer", took control, she could not even hope to face off to him in a show of psychic attacks.  
  
"Strange...I sensed the same thing that you did." John finally said, "I don't know how to explain it."  
  
Meanwhile, topside....  
  
"Magmus! I've found the two missing Detrossians we're looking for...well, sort of." Rieko called as she flew towards her master.  
  
"Well done, Rie...WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SORT OF?!" Magmus growled.  
  
"Well, there's a Detrossian Dragon like you...although it's a girl and she's a green-skin. The other prescence is a Dragdogon...an animal that you Detrossians normally keep as pets and guardians." Rieko said, cowering, "But I assure you that these are the Detrossians we're looking for."  
  
"At least at this, you've suceeded." Magmus huffed, "What were they doing?"  
  
"From the looks of it, playing fetch." Rieko replied as she flew onto his shoulder and sat upon it.  
  
"Hmm...you weren't seen, were you?" Magmus asked.  
  
"No. Why?" Rieko asked.  
  
Instead of answering immediately, he looked around for a moment and noticed a lake nearby. A wicked-looking grin spread across Magmus' face. Rieko knew that look. A very devious plot was brewing in his mind. "What are you up to, Magmus?" Rieko asked, getting a bit tired of waiting for an answer.  
  
"We're going to make our prescence known in a rather unconventional way." he replied as he stepped towards the lake.  
  
Realizing what Magmus was up to, Rieko shouted, "Oh, no! Magmus, don't even think it! You know that Detrossians of your kind can't swim! And besides that...I'll drown, too!"  
  
"No, you won't." Magmus said as he began to take his first steps into the lake, "I'll stay at certain depth so that you won't drown. Once it looks like I'm in trouble, call for help. Once this female arrives and 'saves my life', we've got her."  
  
"Magmus...that is completely dishonest! Even as loyal as I am to you, I will have no part in this cruel disception." Rieko said as she began to fly away from Magmus. But then she stopped at a certain distance, feeling like she just smacked into an lightning barrier spell, forgetting about her range from her master.  
  
"Rieko...need I remind you what happens when you argue with my plans?" Magmus growled, bringing out chain necklace with a small talisman out from under his shirt. It had a yellow jewel in the middle and was surrounded with brass plating with arcane-looking runes on it. He then made a circular rubbing motion on the jewel. The runes began to light up, and the jewel did the same, emitting a cruel-sounding hum.  
  
Then, the chain leading to the manacle around Rieko's neck began to glow as yellow as the jewel and some unknown force began pulling at the chain, pulling Rieko's tiny form towards the jewel at the center of Magmus' talisman. Rieko knew what would happen if the chains touched that triple-damned jewel, so she began pulling back on the chain, struggling hard to keep herself from getting any closer to that jewel.  
  
"Magmus...please....don't do this..." she said in between the grunts of her struggles.  
  
"Will you follow through with my plan?" Magmus asked.  
  
"Yes...YES! Please!" Rieko shouted, her chain just centimeters away from the jewel...  
  
"Very well." Magmus said as he rubbed the talisman again. The glow dissapated and vanished. The chain ceased glowing as well, and hung loosely. Rieko released a sigh of relief.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't do that." she begged.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't have to make me do that!" Magmus said, breathing a bit exhaustedly, "Don't you know how tiring magic is?! Now, as for what you'll tell that Detrossian, tell her that I fell into this lake and that I might have become unconcious."  
  
"Got it." Rieko said glumly.  
  
A slight few feet away, Neon tossed the stick she was playing fetch with. "Go get it, Caylis!" she said, laughing a little as her little pet bounded after it.  
  
But then Caylis stopped, his ears perked up. He looked around cautiously, sniffed the air, then began growling. Neon noticed his odd behavior and asked, "Caylis, what's the matter?"  
  
With that, Caylis ran off, pursuing the source of the foul odor in the air.  
  
Neon rolled her eyes, saying, "I swear, if Vector's doing something to tease Caylis, he's going to find himself with his backside burned." She began to follow the path taken by her pet.  
  
As she finally found Caylis stopped by a lake, she also took notice of a body floating in the water. She gasped for a moment, then dove into the water, using her wings to propel her through the lake's depths.   
  
She got ahold of the body and quickly rushed it to the surface. As she reached the surface, she brought the unconcious form to the shore of the lake closest to Caylis...who appeared to be trying hard to keep his jaws closed.  
  
"Caylis, what do you have in your mouth?" Neon asked, "C'mon...spit it out."  
  
With a slight mix between a bark and a growl, Caylis spewed Rieko out! "YUCK!" Rieko exclaimed as she wiped Caylis' spit off of her, "It was scary in there!"  
  
"Who...or what...are you?" Neon asked the little demon.  
  
Instead of answereing immediately, she fluttered over to Magmus and shouted, "Master? Master! Please, say something!"  
  
Neon looked down upon the being she rescued...and gasped. It was a Detrossian Dragon...like HER!  
  
With a slight groan, he began to get up, and coughed up lake water all over Caylis. The little critter growled at Magmus and shook the water off of himself.  
  
"Where...where am I?" Magmus asked, directing his questions at Neon, "Who are you?"  
  
"My name is Neon Dragon. You are on the Floating Island of the planet Mobius." she answered, "Now, who are you?"  
  
"Planet?" Magmus thought, "Oh, the opportunities this could present."  
  
"I...I don't remember." Magmus replied, "I just don't remember."  
  
"Magmus, how could you forget?" Rieko asked, "We were supposed to find two Detrossian prescences and return them to Detrossa!"  
  
"Really...who's Detrossa?" Magmus asked.  
  
"Amnesia." Neon stated, "You must have suffered a concussion, resulting in memory loss. You're lucky that you atleast remember your vocabulary. C'mon. I'll take you back to my place."  
  
"Gee, that's very thoughtful of you." Magmus said, being a bit polite, "Where is this place of yours?"  
  
"Someplace else, I wish!" a rough voice snapped. Neon looked behind her and saw Knuckles the Echidna, the Guardian of the Floating Island. The red echidna cracked his knuckles, itching for a fight.  
  
"Awe, for crying out loud, Knuckles, isn't there someone else you can bully around?!" Neon asked, "Rogue robots? Mobian criminals? Poisonous animals?"  
  
"There's been nothing happening since that whole affair with the Trade Federation. I'm getting bored...and now, I've found some yutzes to take it out on." Knuckles said, a grin on his face.  
  
Almost immediately, Magmus sprung up and shouted some mystical sounding words. A white mist began to gather in his hands. He then thrust his hands forward, casting a spell. The mist wrapped around Knuckles...and encased him in ice!!!  
  
Magmus then stopped, looked down at his hands and wondered aloud, "Whoa...where did THAT come from?"  
  
"Don't you even remember, Magmus?" Rieko asked, "You're a sorceror."  
  
"Magmus...so, that's you're name, huh? Good thing your little pet there remembered." Neon said, casting a look at the black dragon.  
  
"I'll have you know, that I, Rieko, am not his pet!" Rieko snapped, "I'm a loyal servant to him!"  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Neon said as she scooped up Caylis, "Well, let's get out of here. In this tropical heat, that ice won't hold him for long."  
  
  
  
A while later, in a descending Zoom Tube elevator...  
  
"This is so exciting!" Neon thought to herself, "Another Detrossian! And he is kind of cute..." Her thoughts were interrupted by Caylis licking her chin. She then smiled and scratched behind his ears, resulting in her little pet wagging its tail and making a purring sound.  
  
"Nice pet." Magmus said, "Where did you find it?"  
  
"Originally, little Caylis here was in an egg in a petshop on Coruscant, which happens to be the capital world of the Galactic Republic." Neon said as she continued to scratch Caylis behind his ears, then put him down.  
  
"You don't say." Magmus replied. Deep down, he was grinning. There was a whole galaxy out there...just waiting for someone as powerful as him to take control...  
  
"So tell me...what is Detrossa like?" Neon asked, eager to know more about her homeworld.  
  
But before Rieko answered Neon's question for Magmus (in order to keep up the charade), the Zoom Tube had reached it's final destination and the doors hissed open.  
  
Vector came towards the Zoom Tube Bay to greet Neon. "Hey there, Neon! Got your fresh air that quickly, huh?" he asked...until he noticed Magmus and Rieko, "Um...Neon? Who are these two yahoos?"  
  
"I beg your pardon?!" Magmus snarled.  
  
"It's okay." Neon said, "Vector, this is Magmus and Rieko. He's lost his memory, so be a gentleman for once in your life!"  
  
"Another one of these Detrossa guys around here...well, there goes the neighborhood...YEEEEEEOW!" Vector screamed. He looked down at the end of his tail and saw Caylis hanging on with his mouth. "Neon! GET HIM OFF!" he shouted.  
  
"Caylis, spit that out. You don't know where it's been!" Neon commanded. Upon hearing that, Caylis made a slight face of disgust and spit out the bit of Vector's tail that he was hanging onto. With that, Caylis began growling at Vector.  
  
Magmus then picked up Caylis. The little creature began to thrash about, not welcoming this stranger's touch in the least. Magmus then made a gentle pinch at Caylis' nape of his neck. Caylis's ears perked up for a moment, then relaxed, with him making a slight yawn. Neon's little pet then went into a deep slumber.  
  
Vector, completely awestruck in what Magmus had done, said, "You gotta teach me that trick sometime."  
  
"Vector, where's John?" Neon asked.  
  
After thinking for a moment, Vector then replied, "Last I saw him, he and his wife were getting ready for their big dinner date tonight."  
  
"Oh, right." Neon said as Magmus handed Caylis over to her, "Vector, I need you to keep our new guest occupied. I need to talk to Adonna-Lyn about something quite urgent."  
  
Neon then left Vector and Magmus, face to face.  
  
"So...do you like poker?" Vector asked.  
  
"Ah, Neon, back so soon?" Adonna-Lyn asked. She was dressed in the black-ish green dress she had acquired before she and John were married.  
  
"Adon, I have to speak with you." Neon said, looking carefully to her left and right, "It's something of the utmost importance."  
  
Adonna-Lyn finished draping some jewelry around her neck, then asked, "Of course. What's on your mind?"  
  
Neon closed the door behind her and said, "It's about John...or rather, about his past."  
  
Adonna-Lyn, sensing the urgency in the Detrossian's voice, asked, "What about his past?"  
  
"Well...my friend, Chrome Fingers Snake, gave me some startling information about John." Neon admitted, "If John was to learn about the information...it would devastate him. And given what that hedgehog Jedi friend of ours has said about him going down the path to the Dark Side of the Force, I'm afraid of what his reaction will be."  
  
"Well, what is this information of which you've chosen to hide from my husband?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
Neon then went on to explain that the Dark Legion, a group of technology fanatical echidnas who pined for domination of Mobius, had created John by using DNA samples of various beings...in order to make him a living weapon!  
  
"I...I don't believe it." Adonna-Lyn said, her face as well as her voice conveying her awe and shock, "John has to know about this!"  
  
"He musn't!" Neon objected, "If he was to know...."  
  
"Know about what, Neon?" John asked, standing right at the door. He was dressed in a fine suit.  
  
"Um...about the recent reports of Dark Legion activity in Echidnopolis." Neon replied, thinking quickly about something true to tell her employer, "It's best if you and your wife would be careful if you plan to go out tonight."  
  
John looked knowingly at his wife and said, "You're right, Neon. I'll bring my blaster and lightsaber with me...just in case."  
  
"Yeah...good thinking." Neon said a bit hollowly.  
  
Just then, some raucous laughing was heard. They looked outside of the room and saw Vector and Magmus laughing it up about something.  
  
"That is rather amusing! Neon seemingly hugging your boss! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Magmus roared with laughter.  
  
"John's reaction was twice as priceless, Magmus, ol' boy!" Vector laughed.  
  
"Awe, geez!" Neon said, covering her eyes with her left hand.  
  
"Neon...who is THAT?" John asked.  
  
"According to his much smaller friend, his name's Magmus." Neon said..."This is the last time I leave someone with Vector."  
  
John checked his watch, then gasped, "CRIPES! We're gonna be late! Neon, show Magmus around and introduce him to the others. We'll see you later tonight!"  
  
With that, John and his wife left for the Zoom Tube Station.  
  
"Enjoy your birthday dinner, your Highness!" Neon called.  
  
"Highness?" Magmus asked.  
  
Vector lowered his head in disgust and muttered, "Hoo-boy, do you have some learnin' to do!"  
  
A while later, at "The Floating Oasis"...  
  
John and Adonna-Lyn entered the fancy restaurant. Inside, it simply reflected the very name of the eating establishment.  
  
The carpeting resembled Mobius as it would be viewed from the edge of the Floating Island, the tables and seats resembling the Floating Island as viewed from above. There were many people here. Mostly echidnas, but some other species, like those terrestrial to Mobius and extraterrestrial, were mixed with the dreadlocked citizens.  
  
"John, it looks rather crowded...are you sure you want to dine here?" Adon asked, looking at her husband with some concern.  
  
"Sure. We have reservations...and today's your birthday. I heard this restaurant rated high amongst some of Echidnopolis' top food critics. I want tonight to be extra special for you." John insisted.  
  
The matre'de approached them...it was a Trade Federation Battle Droid!!! "Welcome to the Floating Oasis." the droid stated in its electronic monotone, "Name?"   
  
John smirked. After the whole Trade Federation affair, he almost forgot that a select few, the ones that weren't scrapped, were reprogrammed and sold to several buyers on the open market here on Mobius.  
  
Adonna-Lyn stifled her laughter. The droid looked simply ridiculous with the small bow tie it was wearing around it's "neck"...considering that earlier, this droid would have been shooting at her and placing her under arrest for a bunch of maniacal space merchants.  
  
"John Echidna, party of two for dinner." John stated.  
  
The droid looked at them, then began typing something at the podium it was standing behind. It then looked up at them and replied, "I'm sorry, but I cannot find you on our register."  
  
"That's impossible...I made a reservation two months in advance!" John protested.  
  
"Well, too bad." the droid said while shrugging, "I cannot find your name. What a shame."  
  
John watched as another couple got in...after slipping the droid a 20 Mobium note. "Oh, so that's the game, huh?" John thought angrily.  
  
He then pulled out his blaster, walked up to the droid, and in a harsh...almost mechanical voice, said, "So you want a tip, eh? Well, here's mine! You let us in, or your boss will have to find another matre'de."  
  
The droid then pulled out a blaster rifle from behind the podium, saying, "You know the rules! No reservation, no table!"  
  
"Excuse me, what's the problem?" a brown echidna asked.  
  
"This 'gentleman' was threatening me with bodily harm, sir...right after I told him that he wasn't on the reservation list." the droid replied, still pointing his rifle at John.  
  
"Let me see." the echidna said, pushing the droid aside. He looked, then said, "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. John Echidna. A dinner reservation for two...stupid droid. Please come this way. I have the perfect seats for you...just perfect..."  
  
"Well, that's more like it." John said, holstering his blaster.  
  
Meanwhile, in a booth across from where the manager of the restaurant was taking John and Adonna-Lyn, four echidnas were watching.  
  
"Is that him?" a red echidna whispered to his three comrades, who were seated in a booth.  
  
"Of course, it is, you dimbulb!" a brownish-red female amongst this shady group harshly replied, "Blue skin, blue eyes, nine dreadlocks...the black ring birthmark...it has to be him."  
  
"Well, let's get him!" the red echidna said, going for a projectile weapon at his left hip.  
  
"No, you idiot! Wait until SHE distracts him." another, red-skinned female in the group whispered, "Besides, you want to give us away?! There are five EST members here. Pulling that out at the wrong moment could be just like putting up a neon sign saying 'ARREST ME'!!!"  
  
"Set your weapons to STUN." a bulky, black-skinned echidna wearing shades commented in his deep voice, "Wait for the vixen to show up. Once Project Dark Guardian makes his move, we shall make ours. Lord Kragok will be pleased with us."  
  
"Hmph! What on Mobius was my brother thinking when we made this pact with these outsiders...whoever they were." the red-skinned echidna thought to herself, "Well, whatever. Even if we have to kill him, all we need is his DNA. We will finish what those numbskull scientists failed to do...to create the perfect bio-weapon!"  
  
John and Adonna-Lyn sat down at their seats. He smiled at Adonna-Lyn as she looked at him lovingly. "Adon, you look absolutely beautiful. You look lovlier then the first day I layed my eyes upon you." John complimented.  
  
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Adon asked.  
  
"Well, your hair was a mess, and you were in a rather awkward position in that bubble." John joked.  
  
"Oh, stop!" Adonna-Lyn giggled, gently kicking John from under the table.  
  
During the course of their dinner, John and Adonna-Lyn ate rare dishes from throughout the galaxy, swapped stories of their life and were generally having a good time.  
  
"Oh, John...I haven't had many spectacular birthdays, but this has to be the best I've had yet. Thank you so much." Adonna-Lyn cooed.  
  
"You deserve the best, Adonna-Lyn." John said, his eyes alight with his love for the Chandralite princess, "It's funny...I almost keep forgetting that I'm dining with royalty from another planet. Given the way you look, you do look like a regular Mobian echidna...that is, to those who've never seen a Chandralite echidna before."  
  
"John...call me weird for even thinking this on such a wonderful night...but I think we're being watched. I just have this feeling that someone is spying on us." Adon said, her voice filled with worry.  
  
John concentrated hard..."That's odd. I don't sense anything." John commented.  
  
Just then, his eyes took on a cat-like appearance, his pupils glowing red. "Of course you can't, you dolt! Someone of your...moral disposition couldn't sense your way out of a paper bag!"  
  
Adonna-Lyn gasped as John's eyes reverted back to their normal appearance. "John...what happened to you?" she asked.  
  
Breathing heavily, he replied, "HE...took over."  
  
Suddenly, there was some commotion amongst the male and female patrons. John and Adon looked and watched as their attention was in the direction of the entrance. Standing near the podium, awaiting to be seated was a brown echidna with green eyes, accompanied by a blue echidna with purple hair and...blood-red eyes!  
  
John began growling...it was Prince Jirrard...and Blue Fang!  
  
"Of all times for THOSE two show up!" Adonna-Lyn cursed as they were guided to their seats, "Why did it have to be on my birthday?"John, on the other hand, was smirking, "Adon, you might consider this to be a surprise gift...this could be our best chance to take those two down...after them, it'll just be Blue Fang's other goons."  
  
"Well then...where are her other goons?" Adon asked.  
  
John realized it quickly. He then activated the monacle, which came over his left eye. He quickly switched it to X-ray vision. Nothing...not so much as a fingerbone.  
  
"Wait a minute!" the red echidna male said, "I thought you said she was a vixen."  
  
"Keep your voice down, Karek!" the brownish-red female whispered, "You want to blow our cover?!"  
  
"Hmph...rookie." the black-skinned echidna muttered under his breath.  
  
"Keep your minds clear, you idiots!" the leading female snarled at them, "Remember, he's telepathic! The second he senses any harsh thoughts from us, we're vapor!"  
  
"This just sickens me!" Blue Fang hissed out of her echidna mouth, "Taking on the form of the specie I hate the most! And your tastes in clothing are absolutely horrible! I almost feel like I'm wearing nothing at all!" Her clothes consisted of what looked like Adonna-Lyn's dress (except that the skirt ended half-way down her thighs), her same red shoes, and the same elastic green hairband that grouped her hair into a sexy braid that hung down to her neck.  
  
"In my opinion, it's a ravishing improvement to those atrocious Mobian rags you wear all the time." Jirrard said as he sipped a bit of the Ithorian wine he ordered, "You know, even though I know that's not your true form...I'm feeling a bit...frisky."  
  
She then grabbed Jirrard by the throat and snarled, "If you even think of it, you'll wind up as a bloody feast for Lady Screech. GOT IT?!"  
  
"Blue Fang...people....are....LOOKING!" Jirrard whispered, even while he was being strangled.   
  
Blue Fang looked. Quite a few people were looking their way. She let out a light-hearted laugh and said, "We're meeting someone important in a couple minutes...I was just straightening his tie...WASN'T I, DEAR?!"  
  
"Of course, *choke* darling." Jirrard said as Blue Fang was straightening his tie...too tightly!  
  
Once everyone had resumed with their meals, Jirrard asked, "Geez, were you like this when you were still mated to that one fellow?"  
  
"SHUT UP, JIRRARD!" Blue Fang growled, "Unless you really know what it's like to lose a lov....JUST SHUT UP!"  
  
"Now THAT sickens me! Seeing Adonna-Lyn with that bounty hunting scum!" Jirrard fumed, "Honestly, what does she see in him? I mean, I'm a fine fellow, and well-cultured, too."  
  
"Please...the only thing (in your perverted mind) about you that's well-cultured exists below your waist." Blue Fang scoffed.  
  
"Now, Blue Fang, that's hitting a little below the belt." Jirrard said, getting his right hand too close to the disguised vixen enchantress.  
  
"No...this is." Blue Fang said as he kicked him under the table ...slamming her foot right where the sun don't shine.  
  
Jirrard groaned and fell face forward into his plate of Rodian cannoli.  
  
"Oh, my...looks like something in this restuarant disagreed with you, Jirrard." Blue Fang chortled to herself, "Mind if I have some of what you're eating...as soon as you're done getting your mug bathed in it?"  
  
"That's horrible." some female behind Adonna-Lyn commented, "That blue-skinned slut treating such a handsome hunk of echidna like that."  
  
"Oh, if you only knew him for what he is, sweetheart." Adonna-Lyn thought to herself, rolling her purple eyes. She had dealt with Jirrard before enough times to know him as a perverted slimeball.   
  
"Whadya think, Adon? Think I've got a good shot at her head?" John asked, his blaster concealed under the table cover.  
  
Adonna-Lyn looked, projecting her vision to under the table..."A little to the left, John." she said coldly. Blue Fang was responsible for the murder of her mother, the slaughter in her lady-in-waiting's hometown, and for her two-month-long imprisonment within Brutus the Arachna's cave. Sure, the last one led to her and John first meeting each other, but she could never forgive the vixen enchantress for the other two.  
  
John...well, these two had generally made his life a living hell. One squeeze of the trigger would be all he needed to wipe them out of existence...  
  
Just then, laser bolts began to fire through the window behind them! They quickly ducked under the table...  
  
"What the harak'tha?!" Blue Fang shouted over the laser shots...unware that she began losing her concentration over her shape-shifting abilities. Almost in an instant, she resumed her normal, vixen form.  
  
Jirrard hid under the table and whimpered, "Thisissostupid! Thisissostupid! Thisissostupid! Whycouldn'tshetakeSleetoutfordinner?!"  
  
Before Blue Fang could react, blaster fire began to fill the air around her...from behind! "You moronic Mobian monotremes!!!" Blue Fang roared at them, "Wait until you have a clear shot at him!"  
  
With blaster fire going off in all directions, John peered out from under the table and saw four echidnas shooting in his direction. "What the hel...wait a minute..." John thought as he then switched on his X-ray scanner again. The four echidnas across from him were missing some bits of their skeletons...instead, having cybernetic parts!!!  
  
"Oh, shit! Dark Legionnares!" John gasped, "Well, for whatever the reason, I better get Adon out of here!"  
  
Guests and waiters were running frantically from the firefight, some winding up in the crossfire and having their insides shot out of them. It was total and complete chaos!!!  
  
Suddenly, one shot set the table that the two echidnas were under on fire. Smoke began to choke the air around them.  
  
"Some birthday you planned!" Adonna-Lyn shouted, "Is this restaurant in some gangster's territory?!"  
  
"I don't know." John shouted back.  
  
Outside of the restaurant, a tall Glymphid shouted, "Zuckusssssssssss, you triple-damned idiot!!! I sssssssaid hold your fire until we got within proper range! We could have been upon the Enforcsssssssser before he knew what him!"  
  
"Sorry...Zuckuss thought he had a good shot!" Zuckuss, a squat, ammonia-breathing Gand apologized.  
  
The Glymphid, better known as Aldar "the Hitman" Beedo, rolled his eyes. He knew that Gands tended to refer to themselves in third-person unless they did something to make themselves highly recognized in their society, which would then allow them to refer to themselves in first-person...but this whole thing was just driving him nuts! "Never mind! Jussssssst keep sssssssshooting! Chancssssessssss are, we'll hit him and haul hissssssss mangy carcasssssssss back to Jabba and collect our reward!" Aldar growled.  
  
Zuckuss continued to fire, while asking, "What if we hit some civilians by accident?"  
  
"Then their problemssssssss are over." Aldar Beedo hissed.  
  
"Aldar Beedo. I thought I recognized that hissing!" John said while reloading a blaster clip into his blaster.  
  
"Then who did that other voice belong to?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
John looked back at her and answered, "I don't know...but whoever it was, he must be new to the business, because I heard Beedo shouting at him."  
  
"What do WE do?" Adon asked.  
  
"Naturally, we're getting the hell outta here." John said as he telekinetically lifted the flaming table over them and threw it at the Dark Legion members that were firing at them.  
  
"LOOK OUT!" the black-skinned echidna shouted as the table was tossed at him. They rolled out of the way just as the table crashed down into the booth they were in.  
  
"Ow...my leg...I think it's broken." Karek said. The other members looked and saw sparks flying from his left kneecap.  
  
"Crap..." Komissar, the red-skinned female, snapped, "Just continue the assault! We atleast need one drop of his blood!"  
  
Just then, Marock, the black-skinned Legionnare, felt a hard blow to his front and was sent flying across the restaurant and right through a wall.  
  
"I swear, good help is so hard to get these days!" the brownish-red female, named Bezel-Nal muttered as she kept up the barrage...just as something hit her in the head. It hit the ground and began releasing a hissing noise...as well as an olive-green vapor.  
  
Komissar was the first to identify it...AMMONIA GAS!!!  
  
  
  
"Gas grenade! Everyone out!!!" John shouted, trying to guide everyone out the door, firing at the Dark Legionnares and giving the civilians some cover fire.   
  
"John! Everyone's out! Let's get out of here!" Adon called to him.  
  
But then the cloud of ammonia gas began to envelop John, even as he continued to give the patrons some cover as they got out. Adonna-Lyn feared the worst as he stumbled out of the restaurant, coughing and finally collapsing to the ground.  
  
The echidna princess rushed over to him, got down on her knees and looked John over. He looked positively ill, with his skin paled and his tongue limply hanging out of his mouth.  
  
"Oh, John...why did this have to happen?" she thought, "Well, whatever the case, I better get us both back home."  
  
She began dragging John away from the burning restaurant...just as she felt something being shoved against the back of her head. "Going sssssssssssomewhere?" a hissing voice asked of her.  
  
She looked and saw Aldar Beedo and his Gand partner standing there, their blasters aimed at her.  
  
Blue Fang, Jirrard, and Komissar emerged from the restaurant. "This is the last time I go out to dinner with YOU!" Blue Fang shouted at the echidna prince.  
  
"Well, I did suggest that you take Sleet with you. But did YOU listen? NOOOOOOOOO!" Jirrard shouted up at her, seeing as he was grabbing onto her leg.  
  
"Jirrard...your hands...move them..." Blue Fang hissed, her fingernails extending into long blades, "...NOW!"  
  
Blue Fang then took notice of the two bounty hunters and two echidnas. She ran towards Aldar and Zuckuss and snarled, "I don't know who the harak'tha you two are, but you're interfering with our capture of the Enforcer! Beat it!"  
  
"Sssssssssorry, but I'm under contract to haul hissssss cruddy asssssss back to my contractor." Aldar hissed, swiveling his blaster at the vixen, "And besidessssssss...thisssssss issssss perssssssssonal...VERY PERSSSSSSSSSSSONAL..."  
  
"Too bad for you!" Blue Fang growled, "Because he's mine, bounty hunter scum, and if anyone...AND I MEAN ANYONE...has the right to finish this blue bum off, IT'S ME!"  
  
Jirrard then suggested, "Tell you guys what. You two...fellows can take him away...and I just keep the girl that's with him...okay?"  
  
"Wasn't this female echidna a slave of our contractor's a while ago?" Zuckuss asked.  
  
Adonna-Lyn gulped. She remembered being temporarily enslaved by John's former employer, Jabba the Hutt..."OH NO!" she thought to herself, "That holo-recorder! Jabba now knows that John and I are still alive!"  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, please(and in all of your cases, I use the term loosely)!" Adonna-Lyn piped up, "I have a better idea! How about you let me and my dear husband leave and you can argue all you want without us being in the way?"  
  
Beedo coldly aimed his blaster at the echidna princess, snarling, "Not a chancsssssssssse!"  
  
Jirrard sniffed the air for a moment, then asked, "Do any of you smell...brimstone?"  
  
Suddenly, Magmus dropped out of the sky, launching blasts of dark magic at the vile group. The bounty hunters tried to fire back...just as their blasters rusted away into nothingness.  
  
"I don't know who you are, sssssssstranger, but you jussssssst made a fatal error!" Aldar hissed at the Detrossian, "Zuckussssssssss! Kill them!!!  
  
"With what? Harsh language?!" Zuckuss shouted...all of his weapons vanishing from his Gand robes.  
  
Beedo looked and saw that every weapon on his person had vanished as well. With the bounty hunters now disarmed, they turned to face Blue Fang and the other two rogues...and ran like scared rabbits.  
  
"THISSSSSSSSS ISSSSSSSSSSS NOT OVER!!!!" Aldar shouted.  
  
Blue Fang grinned, saying, "And now for you two...AWE, DAMN IT!" All that was left of Magmus and the two echidnas' prescence was a puff of smoke. They had vanished from sight.  
  
Back in FICC...  
  
"I wonder why Magmus is so reluctant to tell me anything about Detrossa." Neon wondered to herself as she continued to cuddle Caylis. It didn't make sense. Whenever Neon would bring up the subject, so eager to learn about her true homeworld, he would simpley change the subject or ask some question to avert himself from telling her.  
  
Caylis then licked her chin, wanting attention. She smiled and began scratching between her pet's ears, to which Caylis responded by purring and wagging his tail.  
  
Neon reflected back on her life. From the beginning, the only parental firgure she knew was none other than the vile Dr. Robotnik. For most of her life, she had served the tyrant, aiding in his climb to power and the capturing of those who stood in his way. But even as she helped Robotnik...she couldn't help but supress a feeling that Mobius was not her true home.  
  
Her thoughts were further confirmed when, for the first time in her life, she went behind Robotnik's back (a long trip) and found out what she truly was...a Detrossian Dragon. Neon continued to learn as much about herself...but it only fueled the loneliness she felt, knowing that she was the only one of her kind on the face of the entire planet.  
  
"Right...back to Magmus." she thought to herself. Something in her own intuition was kicking in...something about Magmus was downright rotten...and she felt it would be imperative that she'd find out quickly...because if he could encase Knuckles in ice...what would stop him from doing it to her...or any of her friends?  
  
Rieko fluttered about back and forth impatiently in the guest room where she and Magmus were staying. What in all the realms was he doing?! "And why did he leave me behind?!" she fumed aloud, "Doesn't he care about me?"  
  
Suddenly, someone knocked at the door. She was afraid of who it might be, knowing of Magmus' orders that she was to keep out fo sight while he wasn't around...but what would it hurt? She could use some company at the moment. "Come in." she requested.  
  
Buzzing into the room was one of John the Echidna's friends, Charmy Bee. As far as she knew about the workings of this base, he was in charge of all custodial, communication, and protocol.  
  
Charmy only got on look at Rieko before he was struck speechless. She was quite pretty...even if she was a demon.   
  
"Well?" she asked.  
  
"I...I heard someone speaking in here...and I was just...seeing who it was." Charmy stammered.  
  
"Now, you know. Now leave." she snapped.  
  
"Right." Charmy said, quickly flying out of the room, "By the way...I think you're pretty."  
  
Charmy flew back in, kissed her hand, and said, "And...welcome to Floating Island Central Command."  
  
Rieko couldn't even speak after Charmy finally left. No one had ever treated her so nicely like that before. Magmus would occasionally pet her...before he'd quickly stop doing so and berate her. But to be told she was pretty and be treated like she was someone...instead of someone's property...it felt nice to her...  
  
She shook her head. "No...this is wrong! It's wrong to give him hope that he can establish a relationship with me...and that will probabley kill him more than Magmus will!" she thought..."Now, where is Magmus?"  
  
Knothole Village, 10:23PM....  
  
"Oh, Sugah-hog, thank you for our date tonight." Bunnie Rabbot said to her boyfriend, Dave the Gold Jedi. He smiled back at the partially-roboticized rabbit. She had been his friend every since they were children...before Robotnik took over and made them the people they were today. Now, with the bloated tyrant out of the way, they could return to the way life was between them.  
  
"You're welcome, Bunnie." Dave said while kissing her hands. He didn't care if Bunnie was roboticized or not. All that mattered to him was that she would still remain his friend.  
  
Suddenly, there was a flash of red light in Dave's hut. Sensing a threat, Dave cautioned Bunnie to wait at her hut. He went towards his hut and opened the door carefully.  
  
Inside was Magmus, accompanied by an unconcious John the Echidna and his beloved wife, Princess Adonna-Lyn. She didn't seem in the least bit happy with the Detrossian.  
  
"Magmus, I hate to disappoint you, but this isn't FICC." she said to him.  
  
"Well, whoever lives here must be a very dull fellow. No paintings, no medals, no awards..." Magmus observed.  
  
"A Jedi has no need for such things." Dave said behind them.  
  
"Master Dave!" Adonna-Lyn said, her eyes clearly reflecting her surprise.  
  
"Did John get trounced by your tall, dark friend here?" Dave asked, eyeing Magmus suspiciously.   
  
"Why, you little upstart..." Magmus growled, going for his sword...just as Dave Force-pulled his lightsaber into his hands and aimed its golden-glowing blade at the Detrossian's throat.  
  
"If you were any other intruder and tried this, I would've cut you down before you even knew what hit you." Dave said, still holding his infamous lightsaber's blade to Magmus' throat, "But that is not the Jedi way...and it is not my way. Now leave...and don't come back."  
  
"Fine." Magmus snorted, getting his hand off of his sword's handle, "I don't think much of this pithole anyway." With that, Magmus vanished from sight.  
  
"Where did you two find that gargoyle?" Dave asked.  
  
"Actually, it was Neon who found him...and I say it's a good thing that she's met a Detrossian other than herself in the mirror." Adonna-Lyn said, "I can only imagine how lonely Neon must feel, being the only Detrossian on Mobius...probabley the only one in...."  
  
The echidna princess quickly remembered about John and said, "Forgive me...I'm talking on and on while my dearest husband is dying. Where are your medical offices?"  
  
"Follow me, your Highness." Dave said as he Force-lifted John into the air and carried him to the closest medical facility.  
  
Ten minutes later...  
  
Adonna-Lyn sadly looked in at John, hooked up to the latest in life-support equipment, and said, "Oh, John...why did this have to happen...especially on my 21st birthdy?"  
  
"The doctor said it was mostly ammonia gas poisoning. The machines he's hooked up should be able to pull the poison out of his system in a while." Dave said to her, trying to comfort the echidna princess.  
  
"I hope so." she said, "Dave, I really care a lot about John...ever since the day I saw him without his armor...if anything of the worst nature happen to him...I don't know what I'd do."  
  
Remembering what Dave's Jedi teacher, the great Master Yoda, had instructed him, he quickly said, "Adonna-Lyn...it is extremely vital that you and John remain as close as possible."  
  
"Why is that?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
Dave sighed for a moment then explained, "With all due respect, your Highness, John is fading rapidly to the Dark Side of the Force. I can't fully explain how he had developed such a connection to the Force, but I do know that without you, John would've completely fallen to the Dark side. You are the light to his darkness..."  
  
"What would you know about darkness, Jedi scum?" John asked harshly, his eyes glowing red...the Enforcer had taken control.   
  
Adonna-Lyn shook her head and said, "That's the second time tonight that his darker half has come out at the worst time."  
  
Dave lowered his head and said, "Then it's getting worse then even I had perceived. Your Highness, if he does fall completely to the Dark Side, I doubt that even you can help him. I will have no other choice to destroy him...for the sake of protecting the galaxy from him."  
  
The glass window exploded as John leaped through, getting his hands around Dave's throat! "You and what army, JACK?!" he roared down at the Jedi Master as he strangled him.  
  
Adonna-Lyn grabbed John by his shoulders, pulling him off of Dave, shouting, "John, stop it!!!"  
  
The red glow faded from John's eyes, and his body became limp. He looked up at Adonna-Lyn and asked, "What happened to me?"  
  
"You tried to strangle the very life out of Master Dave, THAT'S WHAT!!!" she replied, "How could you even think of doing such a thing?!"  
  
"It's not me...it's...him...The Enforcer." John said, breathing heavily, "Whenever I don my armor...whenever I become enraged...whenever I'm around Jedi...he's there, waiting to take control. I try to hold him back, Adon...you have to believe me...but he's becoming stronger. For a moment, right here, his prescence became the strongest that I've ever felt..."  
  
"Right here?" Adonna-Lyn asked quizically, "But why?"  
  
"Dave...lead me to the basement...NOW!" John requested.  
  
As they went down to the basement, Dave felt a cold chill run down his spines...and it intensified as they proceeded further. They eventually reached a spot where Dave felt it at it's peak. The prescence of the Dark Side was extremely strong!  
  
John began digging...until he came upon a skeleton...feline in appearance...a Mobian feline...a Mobian Feline holding a double-bladed lightsaber!  
  
Adonna-Lyn covered her mouth, holding back the frightened gasp she almost unleashed.  
  
John held the skull of the buried being in his left hand. "It feels so familiar...how?" John said.  
  
Dave grimly explained, "It is Darth Drekard...the Sith Lord...that killed my father."  
  
"By Chandrala...why was it buried here?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
"And without a headstone...figures you Jedi would be so dishonorable to my kind..." John said in the Enforcer's voice, "You Jedi are without respect for the dead."  
  
"We do not honor butchers, which is what Darth Drekard was! My father selflessly sacrificed himself to put an end to his killing." Dave said.  
  
"A pathetic sacrifice...for I LIVE AGAIN!!!" John laughed maniacally, crushing the skull in his hand!  
  
Much to the Jedi Master and the echidna princess' horror, John floated out of the grave, black stripes appearing on his skin. When he turned around, dark rings surrounded his red cat-like eyes like black flame, a wild look on his face. He scared them both half to death!!!  
  
"It's a new look, this vessel...but I love what comes with it!!!" the Enforcer laughed as he cast Force-Lightning at Dave, "Not even a Jedi Master can stand before me...THE SITH SHALL RISE AGAIN!!!"  
  
"Like harak'tha, you will!" Adonna-Lyn said as she launched a psychic blast at John and sent him flying against the wall.  
  
As before, John reverted back to his original form. He shook his head repeatedly and said, "Let's get the hell out of here...this place is having a nasty effect on me."  
  
As they got out of the basement and the building, John's dreadlocks perked up a bit. "I sense something...over this way..." he said.  
  
"Don't you think you've had enough exposure for one night?" Adonna-Lyn asked, giving him a cross look.  
  
"No...this prescence...it's soothing...it's not as harsh." John said.  
  
As they followed where John was running to, they came across a graveyard. John looked around carefully...and found what he was looking for: it was the grave of the Jedi Knight, Thomas Hedgehog...Dave's father.  
  
Quickly assuming what John was going to do, he stepped over the grave, saying, "DON'T YOU EVEN DARE, JOHN!!!"  
  
John gentley pushed Dave aside and stood at the headstone. He lowered his head towards the grave. Suddenly, a mist began to emerge from the grave and enter into John's body.  
  
Before either Jedi or princess said or did anything, John looked up at them with light blue eyes, not his normal silvery-blue. He smiled and looked towards Dave, saying in a gentle, baritone voice, "Hello, Dave...my son."  
  
"Father?" Adonna-Lyn heard Dave gasp.  
  
"Yes, it is I. Oh, look at you, Dave. Look at how you've grown!" John said as he walked towards Dave.  
  
"Oh, dad." Dave said, "What happened to you?"  
  
"It was as was told to you. I fought with Darth Drekard after tracking him to the Floating Island's Dragon-Spine Mountain Range." John/Thomas explained, "He slew a Padawan that I was training around the time that you were born. Even as I fought for the sake of justice...I felt the Dark Side of the Force brewing within me. Drekard's taunts...spoken to me in that harsh...mechanical sounding voice...he was trying to further lure me to the Dark Side! I didn't want you to be trained by a father tainted with the Dark Side...so I charged at him and ran him through...just as he sank his blade into me. We fell to our doom...And I became one with the Living Force."  
  
Dave then felt his lightsaber gently float over to John's hands. He ignited its golden blade and, with a surprised look and Thomas's voice, said, "The Golden Blade lightsaber...no Jedi ever gotten so far as to hold such a noble weapon...I can feel Master Yoda's prescence on this weapon. The old rascal gave you this weapon...I'm so proud of you, Dave."  
  
"I'm also a member of the Jedi Council, father." Dave said, but without a tone of pride. To him, there was no pride. Only honor.  
  
"A member of the Council. You've practically surpassed me, my boy." Thomas said, hugging his son, "If only your mother didn't die from the grief of my loss. She would have been so proud of you. Son...the Dark Side may be strong in this vessel...but I do feel the warmth of light in him...and it feels like what I felt like when I was still amongst the living. It almost feels like a part of me was placed within him..."  
  
"Now, I must depart, my boy." Thomas said, "May the Force be with you."  
  
"May the Force be with you, father." Dave said.  
  
"Wait...why is it that...I've been the only one to bring John back from the Dark Side?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
"Perhaps...you remind me of my wife...she was just as beautiful as you, your Highness." Thomas said as he faded out of John's body.  
  
John held his head and said, "Man, that was weird."  
  
"John...are you alright?" Adonna-Lyn asked.  
  
"I will be...after I have a talk with Neon..." John said as he teleported himself and his wife away.  
  
"May the Force help us all." Dave said, walking away from his father's grave...unaware that he was being watched from nearby...  
  
"It is too late...HE has discovered the truth behind his flaw." the dark figure reported.  
  
"Understood. Report back to base, Agent." a voice on the figure's communicator ordered.  
  
"At once." the agent said. The figure cast a final glance back at the departing Jedi Master...then continued on his (?) way...  
  
Back at FICC, 11:50 PM...  
  
Magmus reappeared back in the guest quarters that he was provided. He found Rieko lying down on the room's bed, her breathing sounding like a mouse's squeaking. He went over to the demon/pixie and shook her awake.  
  
Rieko awoke with a slight yawn and noticed Magmus quickly, flying out from under the covers, saying, "Magmus! I didn't expect you back so late! Where were you?!"  
  
"Out endearing myself to Neon's unwitting employer." Magmus said with a cunning grin, "Have you seen the ship he has in the Docking Bay of this place? Magnificent!!! Covered in Ditanium-Alloy, engines able to break from a planet's gravity-well and burst into hyperspace, superior weaponry..."  
  
"And I suppose you're going to try to use it in some elaborate scheme to take over the base." Rieko scoffed, "Huh! Good luck! This John guy doesn't fool around when it comes to security. From what I heard from Charmy..."  
  
"WHO?" Magmus asked, narrowing his eyes until they looked like devil's horns.  
  
"Some employee of John's that I...charmed into telling me more about this place." Rieko replied shakingly, "But it was only to suit our purposes, Magmus...that's all!"  
  
"Rieko...one, it is for MY purposes." Mamgus said, going for the particular medallion around his neck, "Two, don't even think of establishing relationships with anyone! You're mine, you know! Don't forget...I OWN YOU!!!"  
  
"Magmus, I swear, nothing happened between me and Charmy!" Rieko pleaded, "I would never betray you...you know it..."  
  
"While I know that...you betrayed my trust that you would follow my orders." Magmus snapped as he rubbed the medallion. Again, it began to glow yellow and hum its cruel hum.  
  
The chain leading to Rieko's manacle began to glow, straighten out, and pull the unfortunate demon/pixie straight towards the yellow jewel at its center.  
  
"Magmus...please! I won't disobey you again!" she begged as she was being drawn closer and closer. She pulled and pulled on the chain, but the magical force that held sway over the chain was far stronger than her struggles.   
  
"You better not...but for now, you must be punished." Magmus said, not deactivating the talisman's effects, allowing it to pull his struggling slave in further than he allowed earlier.  
  
Even when the very tip of the chain was but a millimeter away from the yellow jewel, Rieko could just feel the cursed sting of the punishing shocks. Then the chain touched the jewel!  
  
The sensation was a hundred times worse than even she had experienced before! She screamed and writhed in agony as the bolts coarsed over her like piercing needles. It went on for four minutes until Magmus finally relented, rubbing the talisman. Rieko collapsed to the top of the bed, breathing heavily. She was barely able to move, her body was in so much pain.  
  
A knocking came at the door. Magmus quickly hid Rieko in his pocket as he said, "Come...and this had better be important."  
  
Opening the door was Neela, Adonna-Lyn's lady-in-waiting. Magmus could not help but continue to look at her. The squirrel servant girl was very lovely..."Even for a fur-covered being." Magmus thought to himself, "If only I could include HER in my plans..."  
  
"Forgive me for the intrusion..." Neela said with a polite bow, "I heard a painful sound in here and only wanted to investigate."  
  
"Well, I...stubbed my toe. That's all." Magmus fibbed, "It hurt a lot."  
  
"Oh. Well, I must go." Neela said as she began to leave.  
  
"Must you leave so soon?" Magmus said, seizing her right hand and turned her to face him.  
  
Neela shivered. Not that Magmus had a cold touch...but there was something wrong about this Detrossian. She could feel it. There was something he was hiding...but what? "The hour is late. I must return to my quarters...please let go." Neela said, trying to remain polite, even if this person was giving her a bad feeling.  
  
Mamgus grinned, wrapping his wings around the Chandralite Squirrel. She was not going to get away that easy. "And, pray tell, why should I do that?" he asked as he used his wings to bring Neela closer to him.  
  
This guy was seriously creeping Neela out. This tall, dark stranger act she had seen before...but this was too much! "Because I need my beauty sleep." she blurted out. That just sounded stupid...  
  
So naive. Magmus brought her even closer until her body was pressed against his. "If you need your beauty sleep, why don't you spend it here? I'm a very silent sleeper." he said, "I assure you that you'll rest easier than you have in the past."  
  
Neela frowned. This had gone on long enough! She was often the subject of bullying and being pushed around by guys...no more! She kicked Magmus in the chest and forced him off of her! But when he came back at her, she made a Force-push/Force-Lightning combo and launched the Detrossian back until he fell behind his bed. "Rest by yourself, PIG!" Neela snapped as she ran out of his room.  
  
"What a woman..." Magmus said with a wry grin. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pinch! He looked into his pocket and saw Rieko biting into his hide. As his crimson-red blood began to pour out, Rieko put her mouth onto the wound she made and began drinking Magmus' blood. He knew it was natural, seeing as she needed his blood to keep her in her sentient state. Otherwise, she would become feral and wild...and he knew what a pain that would be.  
  
Neela retreated to the hallway that connected the other junctions to her quarters. She breathed heavily. Other than the fact that Magmus was just like every other man she had encountered (with the exception of King Aaron and John), one word was ringing through her mind ever since he brought her so close to him...murder!!!  
  
She rubbed at her face, trying to push away this awful feeling she had about Magmus...but it was still with her. If Magmus was really a murderer...John and the others would be at great risk!!!  
  
Just then, John and Adonna-Lyn appeared in her midst. She breathed with some relief. John and her foster sister were always kind to her and willing to listen to her if she had a problem or needed to talk to them.  
  
"Oh, Neela!" Adonna-Lyn said, realizing her foster sister was there, "Is something wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."  
  
Neela looked to her left and right, then said, "I need to talk to you and John...it's about Magmus!"  
  
It immediately got John's interest. "What about Magmus?" John asked.  
  
She told them everything that Magmus did to her...and what the Force was telling her about the Detrossian. Adonna-Lyn frowned and said, "It always figures, no matter what the specie...men are all alike, nothing but lustful swine...no offense, John."  
  
"None taken." John said, knowing she knew better of him.  
  
"What shall we do?" Neela asked, "What if he tries to..."  
  
"Leave him to me." John said, "If he pulls anything funny, that Detrossian will have to answer to me."  
  
Meanwhile, in a different reality...  
  
"I assure you that we will bring your weapon back to you. We just need more time!" Blue Fang said towards Kragok, leader of the Dark Legion. Kragok himself was a red echidna with a tri-clawed robotic left arm and a cybernetic right eye.  
  
"My patience is wearing thin, Blue Fang! I was just informed by one of my agents that HE has discovered his flaw...he only needs to put two and two together and come after us...and you've already seen what he's capable of!" Kragok snapped.  
  
"And that's why you fools were unable to hold him when he was still amongst you! If you hadn't made him so damn powerful..." Blue Fang hissed.  
  
"Power was what we had intended! We just didn't count on him gaining a conscience!" Kragok interupted, "But in any case, you have failed to bring Project Dark Guardian back to us! I'm calling this allegience to an end!"  
  
"Not so fast, big guy." Blue Fang said seductively, "Perhaps the method to get at your little pet project is not to wait for him to emerge...but to make him emerge."  
  
"What do you mean?" Kragok said, interested.  
  
"I suggest that we create the right situation to drive him out into the open." Blue Fang said.  
  
As she whispered the idea into Kragok's ear, the Dark Legionnare grinned, "I like the sound of that! Excellent! Very well."  
  
"You won't regret this." Blue Fang said as she left, "Not yet..."  
  
The next day...  
  
Neon heard the comm-link come on. She answered it and saw John. "John! What can I do for you?" she asked.  
  
"Come to the Central Control Room. NOW." John said, a grave expression on his face.  
  
As she arrived...she gasped. The information Snake sent her was up on the screens in the room...and John was seated in his usual chair. He found out!!!  
  
"Perhaps you'd care to explain why I had to go through a password lock, Neon..." John said as he made the chair rotate to face her.  
  
"John...I can explain!" Neon said. This is what she feared. John was, after all, extremely powerful...and the information Snake provided would be enough to push him over the edge and send him falling head-first into the Dark Side.  
  
"Oh, really? And that's why this information was dated back to before Adonna-Lyn and I were married?" John asked, getting up, "Neon...I paid you to find this information...I trusted you...and this is how I would be repaid?! You hid this info from me! Did you think this information was unimportant to me?!"  
  
"With all due respect, John, I hid this information to keep you from going all Sith Lord on us!" Neon retorted, "You do have the blood of a Sith in you! By now, you could be beyond any help!"  
  
John went towards her and said, "Don't you think I would have a decision over how to run my life, like which path of the Force I take?! As far as I'm concerned, Neon, you're no better than THE PEOPLE WHO MADE ME!"  
  
A moment passed between the Detrossian and the genetically engineered weapon before her before John turned away from her and said, "Enjoy your return to Detrossa, Neon, as that's what Magmus came here to do. I'm giving you three days to pack up and leave. I don't ever want to see you on these grounds again."  
  
Neon ran from the room, fighting hard to hold back the tears that threatening to flood from her eyes. She ran past Vector and Espio on her way back to her quarters. They halted whatever they were discussing as she ran past them  
  
"Hold that thought, Espy. I'm gonna see what's up with Neon." Vector said. He came to her room, and found the door locked. "Neon? Are you okay?" Vector asked.  
  
"Oh, go away, Vector!" Neon shouted.  
  
"Neon, c'mon! I just wanna help!" Vector said.  
  
"You wanna help? Then help me pack up! I'm leaving!" Neon snapped.  
  
"Leavin'?!" Vector gasped, "Leave for where?"  
  
"I'm going back home." she stated.   
  
"But Neon...this IS your home." Vector said.  
  
"Not anymore." Neon said, her sobs becoming louder.  
  
Vector finally got the door open and entered seeing Neon on her bed, crying her poor heart out. It pained Vector to see her like this. He sat down on her bed and put his hand on her left shoulder. "Neon, you wanna tell ol' Vector what this is all about?" Vector asked.  
  
"John discovered the truth about himself...he was not too thrilled with it." Neon said between her sobs, "Now, I can no longer live here. John has ordered me to leave."  
  
"WHAT?!" Vector shouted, "He can't do that!"  
  
"He just did." Neon said, "He's giving me three days to be gone from his sight."  
  
"Look, Neon...I know we haven't always gotten along in the past...but you're still a member of the Chaotix. We look out for each other, and this definitely calls for me to look out for your best interests." Vector said, "I could talk to Adonna-Lyn and see if she could convince John to let you stay."  
  
"No. It's better if I go back to the world of my true origins." Neon said, "I may have had Mobius as my home...but there's no one else like me on this world. I should be going back with Magmus..."  
  
"And if Magmus was going to take you back to...where-ever you came from...why hasn't he done so already?" Vector posed to her, "He seemed pretty damn interested in seeing the Docking Bay and the ships. He even called the ShadowHunter a work of art. In fact, I asked what he thought about you...and he acted like he had forgotten about you totally."  
  
That did get Neon to wonder. What was Magmus up to?  
  
Back in the Central Control room, John was watching a monitor. It had Neon's room under observation. John looked down. He was pretty hard on Neon...especially since she only had the best intentions in hiding the information about John's past from him.  
  
Just then, a communication link opened up...on the alert signal! John opened the link, and found it was Sleet and Dingo, the Luperian bounty hunting duo!  
  
"This is the Crimson Howl to anyone! We're under attack by unmarked vessels!" Sleet said fearfully as the sounds of laser blasts pelted his ship's shields.  
  
John then activated one of the hidden cameras on the Floating Island and saw the Crimson Howl frantically dodging the fifteen smaller, saucer-shaped ships, manned by Dark Legionnares!  
  
John was confused. Wasn't Blue Fang working with the Dark Legion to get at him?  
  
"Somebody help! I don't want to die!!!" Dingo cried out.  
  
"It wouldn't good if I were in their position." John finally thought, "And since the Dark Legion has now become our common enemy..."  
  
"This is FICC to Crimson Howl. Turn to point-zero-four-five and head in at full speed." John said over the communication port.  
  
"Acknowledged." Sleet said.  
  
"Yeah...Ackow...Ackhow...what he said." Dingo replied.  
  
"Aptiva, activate outer defenses on my mark and lock onto the Dark Legionnare ships." John commanded.  
  
With that, John opened the outer hatch that would lead into the Docking Bay...where he then saw Magmus at one of the airlock doors that would lead into the ShadowHunter. What was he doing?  
  
Meanwhile, outside...  
  
  
  
"Phase 1 of Operation Fire in the Hole is complete, your wickedness." Sleet reported to Blue Fang.  
  
"Who came up with that lame operation name?!" Jirrard asked.  
  
"I did, you schmuck!" Sleet snapped.  
  
"Enough!" Blue Fang ordered, "Sleet, take us in. And Jirrard, do us all a favor and keep your big trap shut!"  
  
Suddenly, several missle canons appeared out of hidden ports on the Floating Island and began firing at the Dark Legionnare vessels, striking them down.  
  
"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Blue Fang thought...even as she heard the screams of the partially-cybernetic echidnas as they were either blown to bits or falling to their doom...  
  
FICC Docking Bay...  
  
"Invalid password. Access Denied." the ShadowHunter's on-board computer stated in its baritone voice.  
  
"Damn that tightwad boss Neon has!" Magmus snorted, "He WOULD put a password lock on his ship...even when it's in his own base of operations."  
  
"The better to keep creeps like you out!" a voice said at the entrance to the Docking Bay. Magmus turned and saw Adonna-Lyn there, giving him a mean look.  
  
"What do you want?" Magmus asked.  
  
"What I want is to give you this!" Adon said as she fired a psychic blast at Magmus. The blast hit him in the chest and forced him away from the ShadowHunter. It didn't do any serious damage outside of ripping a huge hole in his shirt.  
  
"That is for your treatment of my foster sister last night, you snake!" Adon said, "I will not tolerate that kind of behavior...and that especially goes for anyone I care about."  
  
"Oh, come now...nothing of the particular sort happened." Magmus chuckled...just as the Crimson Howl came into the Docking Bay, black marks from laserfire ruining the otherwise dark red paint job. Blue Fang, Jirrard and Screech were the first to disembark from the Crimson Howl.  
  
"YOU!" Adonna-Lyn shouted, "What are you doing here?!"  
  
"Finishing what I started with your mother!" Blue Fang said as she conjured a small, rubbery, transparent object into her hand and launched it at the echidna princess!  
  
Magmus, however, caught the object in his hand...and the object just remained there in his hand. "Ah...the Bubble Prison Spell....I know that spell, too." he chortled as he launched it at Blue Fang!  
  
It hit her right in the face and began to spread, pulling her into its near-inescapable interior. She grabbed at it with her hands as it completely enveloped her head and tried to pull it off...only to have her hands pulled in, too. It continued to envelop her and eventually, she was floating above the ground, struggling to break out of the rubbery orb!  
  
Screech and Jirrard backed off for a moment, frightened by the fact that there was someone else who knew the Bubble Prison spell. Magmus noticed this and made the bubble containing their leader fly at them and pull them in as well!  
  
"And I know all the properties of the spell as well." Magmus said with a snicker.  
  
Sleet and Dingo came out of their ship, saw Blue Fang and the other two within the bubble prison...then looked toward Magmus, who then looked back at them. "WHOA, HOLD IT!" Sleet said, "We're just the hired guns! We're only with them because we're getting paid to work for them."  
  
"We are?" Dingo asked.  
  
But before Magmus had a chance to do what he did to the others, John, appeared on the scene, accompanied by Espio, Vector, Heavy and Mighty. He took one look at Blue Fang and the other two trapped individuals...then looked at Magmus.  
  
Magmus looked back...then said, "They threatened your wife! I was here when it happened."  
  
Adonna-Lyn was then lifted onto her feet telekinetically by her husband. He then asked her, "Are you alright?"  
  
"John, I assure you, I'm fine." Adonna-Lyn stated, "John, doesn't it disturb you that Magmus knows how to use the spell that imprisoned me before I met you?"  
  
John then cast a suspicious glance towards Magmus and said, "It does disturb me, Magmus."  
  
"I did so while protecting your lovely wife. Have I not proven my loyalty to you and your followers?" Magmus stated, sounding innocent.  
  
"That remains to be seen, Magmus." John said, his silvery-blue eyes narrowing, "I heard something about you and Neela last night...and to be terribley frank, I didn't like what I heard."  
  
"Uh...heh heh heh..." Magmus chuckled nervously, "The young innocent merely trapsed into my room and began coming on to me."  
  
"That's another thing, Magmus..." John said, pointing his hands at the Detrossian, "I HATE LIARS!" With that, John began launching bolts of Force-Lightning at Magmus. Not even one of Magmus' powerful spells could block the Sith-related assault!  
  
Finally, John relented. "And don't you forget this, Detrossian." he said as he turned to leave.  
  
"Rest assured, I won't." Magmus angrily muttered under his breath.  
  
John then instructed his followers, "Deliver Blue Fang and her followers to the Holding Cells and keep them under close observation."  
  
"Hey! We just work for whoever pays the most. How about some professional courtesy, huh?!" Sleet shouted, "You, of all people, should respect that, Enforcer!"  
  
"You're lucky that you're not in cauterized chunks, Sleet!" John snapped, "Atleast you're safe from the Dark Legion. Be thankful for that."  
  
  
  
As John left the Docking Bay, he came across Neon, a couple of suitcases in her hands, and Caylis by her side. He was filled with mixed emotions. One side of him wanted to kill her for hiding such important information from him...but that side certainly wasn't prevailing, for John asked, "Leaving so soon?"  
  
"Just following my last orders." Neon said.  
  
"Look, Neon...I was really hard on you..." John started, rubbing the back of his head, "I just wanted to apologize for my reaction...and you don't have to leave immediately. Maybe, before you leave for your true homeworld, we could hold a going-away party."  
  
"No, it's better if I leave ASAP." Neon said, her face turned away from John, "I was wrong to keep your past hidden from you...Besides, with the possible exception of Magmus, I'm the only Detrossian on Mobius...perhaps within this entire galaxy. I should rejoin my own kind."  
  
"HEY! 'ONE SIDE!" Espio rudely shouted as he and Vector hauled the Bubble Prison with Blue Fang, Screech and Jirrard to the Holding Cells.  
  
"Sorry about that, Neon...if you want, I'll bite his head off for ya." Vector offered.  
  
"I heard that, Vector!" Espio snapped, "Now shut your trap and give me a hand with the blue bitch and her goons!"  
  
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A BITCH, HORN HEAD?!" Blue Fang roared, trying to get her hands around Espio's neck...only to have her hands launched back at her by the bubble prison's rubbery walls.  
  
Mighty accompanied Sleet and Dingo, asking, "Blue Fang really does that to you guys?"  
  
"Yeah, and our meter's still running." Dingo said, "We haven't been paid even so much as one credit since she hired us."  
  
"Geez, that stinks." Mighty remarked.  
  
"Not as badly as Jirrard does. He's so used to having women bathing him, he expects Blue Fang and Screech to do the same." Sleet laughed, "And if you know how often that happens..."  
  
"SLEET, IF I EVER GET OUT OF THIS DAMNED THING, I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Jirrard roared.  
  
"Not as much as I will if you don't quit your damn yelling!" Screech hissed.  
  
"See what we have to put up with?" Dingo asked.  
  
"If it weren't for the fact that you've threatened my friends and my boss on numerous occasions, I'd feel sorry for you." Mighty said, "But you're still going to the Holding Cells. Sorry, but it's John's orders."  
  
"Hey, no hard feelings here." Sleet said, "Atleast John's treating you better than Blue Fang treats us."  
  
After the slight procession left their sight, Neon turned to John and said, "Okay, that was just disturbing."  
  
"I've seen worse." John commented, "And Neon...I am sorry for everything I've done against you."  
  
"*Ahem*...If you two are done, I believe Neon and I shall be on our way back home." Magmus said, Rieko floating near his shoulder.  
  
"Um...not that quickly, Magmus." John said, "I do believe Neon will be with us long enough for us to through a going-away party."  
  
"And waste such precious time?!" Magmus snapped, "Unless I didn't hear correctly, YOU wanted her out of your sight!"  
  
John stopped. He was right about that...but it wouldn't be right to send his loyal bodyguard off to her homeworld with out a party, commending her for atleast her services. "Well, like it or not, Magmus, we're throwing a party for Neon. And you are invited."  
  
"I'll pass, thank you." Magmus snorted as he went towards his quarters.  
  
"Geez, that guy has an attitude." Adonna-Lyn remarked, "No offense, Neon, but I hope you meet someone better than him back on your world."  
  
Later that night...  
  
Magmus crept into the Holding Cells. It looked much different than the ones back home.  
  
The octagonal "doorways" into the cells seemed to be wide open...until he touched into one of the openings and got a nasty shock!  
  
"Force field guarded doors...hmm, clever." Magmus mused while rubbing his shocked finger.  
  
"Well, well...look who comes a callin'." he heard Blue Fang taunt from within the Bubble Prison and her cell.  
  
"Hmm, I was wondering which cell was yours." Magmus said, strolling up to her cell.  
  
"Now...I'm curious..." Blue Fang said, slowly swishing her bushy tail from side to side, "What makes someone who practices black magic...join the side of my most hated enemy?"  
  
"I never said I was on his side." Magmus answered, "I'm just looking for a way to make this galaxy mine."   
  
"Well, it looks like you have some competition, Magmus." Blue Fang said, putting on her seductive charm, "However, I'm just interested in ruling BOTH Mobius and Chandral....how about we make a deal?"  
  
"And what sort of deal do you have in mind?" Magmus asked, interested.  
  
"How about you get me and my comrades out of this...and I promise that I'll do everything in my power to make sure you stay in this dimensional plane." Blue Fang offered, pressing her body against the Bubble Prison's wall, trying to act all seductive-like.  
  
Magmus was almost drawn in..."WAIT A MINUTE!" Magmus gasped, "How did you...?!"   
  
"Don't think you're fooling anyone, Magmus." Blue Fang said, "I know about how you murdered your master, and that you're under a severe death penalty if you fail to return to your world with those other, pesky Detrossians. If you free me, I shall promise to close off any portal from your homeworld, to keep anymore of your kind from hunting you. Deal?"  
  
Magmus grinned and replied, "Deal! All I need now is a Jedi/Sith weapon to cut you out of there, as only a Force-user's weapon can dispell a Bubble prison."  
  
"Well, there is John's double-blade lightsaber...but he'll be too dangerous, even for you..." Blue Fang thought...until a cunning grin spread across her face, "But there is that servant girl Neela...she wields a De'kar stick. A Chandralite Jedi weapon. Her Force powers are not completely developed. I doubt she'll be much trouble."  
  
Magmus smiled. The Chandralite girl, it would be, and a task much to his liking, as well. Now all it would take is to get her more powerful companions out of the way...  
  
Alarms started to blare! Magmus knew he couldn't be seen with Blue Fang or her two friends in there, so he ran with the other Chaotix as they headed for the Central Control Room.  
  
Not surprisingly, John was there first. He looked on the screen and saw a few figures in black cloaks, with dark red, veil-like coverings over their faces. These were members of the Dark Legion...and they were looking for triggers that would lead them into FICC!!!  
  
Espio recommended, "John, activate the outer defenses. We can't have them coming down here."  
  
"No...we can't have them coming down here...but I'm going up there to face them." John said as he began to leave, "It's about time I got some answers from them."  
  
"Well, you're certainly not going to face them without me." Adonna-Lyn offered, "Someone has to watch your back."  
  
Neela said, "Let me come too, John. I need get some practice in."  
  
Magmus gulped. This would not do at all. "Um...don't you think she should remain down here, in case any of those thugs invade? She could...I don't know...Mind-trick them into leaving, thus preventing any unnecessary damage to your base." Magmus advised.  
  
"Very well. Neon, you're in charge until Adon and I get back." John commanded, "Neela, you stay down here, just in case."  
  
Neela looked towards Magmus shakingly, then answered, "As you wish, John."  
  
As the echidna couple left, Neon ordered, "Alright, Chaotix, to your stations! We can't have any of those creeps getting in here. Get to each of the emergency exits and entrances and block them off!"  
  
Espio, ever the first to question Neon's orders, argued, "Didn't John fire you? What did he do, have a change of heart?"  
  
Vector hit Espio in the head and said, "Let us not argue with the lady, Espio! We gotta get to work here!"  
  
With that, the Chaotix ran down the halls to every exit.  
  
"Magmus, I need you to...Magmus?" Neon began to order...until she noticed that the black Detrossian had disappeared from sight, "Damn it! What is he up to?"  
  
"Blast it! Where does she keep this 'De'kar stick'?" Magmus snorted as he rummaged through Neela's room.  
  
Just then, he heard what sounded like a blade being unsheathed behind him. He turned and saw Neela, holding the very weapon he was looking for. "I always keep my De'kar stick with me, Magmus. Now what are you up to?" she questioned.  
  
Magmus grinned. "What's the matter, little Jedi? Can't your all-powerful Force tell you that?" he asked as he pushed her weapon out out of her hands with a wave of his hand. Neela tried to run out of the room...until Magmus made the door slam shut and welded the lock, sealing the serveant girl in with him.  
  
"Neela...why do you play hard-to-get?" Magmus asked mockingly as he pinned her against the wall, using his arms to cut off her escape, "Think of what we could achieve together, you and I. I could rule this entire galaxy...with you by my side...Why deny it? We were made for each other."  
  
But before Magmus could do anything more, he felt something bite him hard in the ankle. He screamed in pain and looked to see Caylis biting him, growling as he did. He then kicked Caylis in the jaw, causing Neon's pet to yelp and scamper out of the room and into the ventilation shaft he came through. "Annoying little pest. Now where were we?" Magmus said, shifting his attention back to Neela.  
  
"Neela? Neela, are you okay in there?" Mighty called from outside.  
  
"Hey, who welded her door shut?" Vector asked.  
  
"I'm just fine, guys. I just need a little quiet time to myself." Magmus said, mimicking Neela's voice.  
  
"The harak'tha, I do!" Neela shouted defiantly as she kneed Magmus between his legs. The Detrossian groaned and recoiled from the hit. Neela took this distraction to her advantage and ran for her weapon...but Magmus whipped his tail around and tripped the servant girl up.   
  
Before she had a chance to get back up, Magmus was upon her, snarling, "Last chance, servant girl...be my queen...or be nothing at all!"  
  
"Neither. I am a Jedi...like my father before me." she said as she got Magmus off of her.  
  
"So be it...Jedi..." Magmus growled as he brought her De'kar stick into his hands, "If you will not be mine, then you will be destroyed!"  
  
With that, he shoved Neela against one of the tall poles of her bed and magically brought one of the silken curtains (well, John wanted Neela to feel at home) to life. It enveloped Neela, wrapping itself around her until she looked like a silken-wrapped mummy.  
  
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a deal to make good on." Magmus laughed as he vanished from Neela's room, leaving the struggling servant girl to her fate.  
  
She then saw that her door was being welded into...just as Mighty's fist punched the door down! Neon blew some smoke away from her hands as she entered.  
  
Neela pushed against the curtain as hard as she could, but it would not yield! She called out to Mighty and hoped her cries would not be muffled.  
  
"Neela!" Mighty cried out as he ran to her, much to her relief.  
  
"Whoa...what happened to her?" Vector asked.  
  
"Never mind that...you have to get to the Holding Cells." Neela warned as Mighty tore at the curtains, "Magmus has my weapon...and he's going to use it to unleash Blue Fang and the others from there!"  
  
Neon, upon hearing that, hit the Red-Alert button.  
  
Heavy, who was busy sealing up one of the exits, turned and exclaimed, "What in the blazes...?!  
  
"All personell report to the Holding Cells, Code Red! Repeat! Code Red!" Neon reported over the comm-system.  
  
"Code Red...DEAR GOD!" Heavy gulped in dread...  
  
In the Holding Cells...  
  
"Ah, Magmus, you brought it! Bless your black dragon heart!" Blue Fang said, clapping her hands excitedly.  
  
"What are you so happy about?" Jirrard asked snidely, "Unless you haven't heard, there are alarms going off...and I don't believe I see that blue bounty hunter's blood on that thing. You've accomplished nothing, you idiot!"  
  
With that, Magmus sliced a hole into the bubble...large enough for all three captives within to escape. Magmus held Blue Fang's hand as she stepped out of the bubble. Jirrard expected the same from Screech after she stepped out. Instead of doing so, Screech gave Jirrard a dirty look, as if to say, "Move, or you're lunch."  
  
With that, Jirrard took one step...and fell flat on his face!  
  
Sleet and Dingo laughed profusely at the echidna prince. Jirrard picked himself up off the floor and growled, "That does it! I've had enough of you lousy bounty hunters! First, the Enforcer taking away Adonna-Lyn, then you two robbing me of my dignity!"  
  
"Come on! You rob yourself of your dignity everyday!" Sleet laughed.  
  
Dingo then began counting, "Not to mention your self-respect, your pride, your hygeine..."  
  
Before Jirrard had a chance to shred the two bounty hunters with his sword, Magmus grabbed the blade with his left hand, not even being cut in the least.  
  
"Not so fast, you ex-royal fool." Magmus hissed in the prince's face.  
  
"Sleet and Dingo are useful in ways that you are obviously not." Blue Fang snapped, "Now, if we planned things out right, the Dark Legion should be trussing John and his royal brat wife up right...now."  
  
Jirrard grinned, "Really? THIS I gotta see!" With that, they teleported out of the cells. Magmus, however, left the De'kar stick behind, feeling that it had served its purpose...and to further disgrace Neela, knowing that if the constricting spell he cast didn't destroy the young squirrel girl, her shame would.  
  
When Neon and the others reached the cell, they found they were too late.  
  
"Oh, geez! They're out!" Vector gasped.  
  
Neela walked in to the Holding Cells. She saw her weapon on the ground. She fell to her knees, held the weapon in her hands...then wept. She had failed not only John and Adon for keeping this weapon away from their worst enemies...but she had failed her own father. Some Jedi she would turn out to be....  
  
"Well, that's just great!" Espio snorted, "What did Magmus do to get that weapon out of your hands, charm you?!"  
  
"Watch your tongue, lizard!" Mighty snapped, "We found her in her room, being strangled by the very curtains of her bed."  
  
Espio then went up to Neela and kicked her! "Nice job you've done, Neela!" Espio roared down at her, "Now John's got twice the enemies to deal with! I can only imagine what Adonna-Lyn thinks of you NOW!"  
  
"Lay off, Espio!" Mighty growled as he punched the chaemeleon upside the head, "She's probabley upset as it is! You're only making it worse for her!"  
  
Espio merely growled and charged at Mighty, trying to spear him with the horn on his head.  
  
Vector immediately got in the way, snapping, "THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF BOTH O'YA! Right now, we've got a more serious problem! Let's get our collective rear ends out there and help da' boss!"  
  
Neon, however, heard a beeping noise coming from the cell Sleet and Dingo were occupying. She ran...and found a bomb there!!!  
  
"EVERYBODY OUT!" Neon shouted.  
  
Vector noticed the bomb and said, "Neon, I have an idea." With that, the crocodile activated the force field and intensified its power...just as the bomb exploded!  
  
Fortunately, Vector's idea worked. The field contained the bomb's explosion, so that only the two bunks were heavily damaged.  
  
Neon looked at Vector and said, "I...I must say I'm impressed. That was some quick thinking, Vector."  
  
"Well, I remembered that John made these force fields strong enough to deflect a Class 4 explosive." Vector said. If he was bragging, Neon didn't sense it.  
  
"Well, whatever the case, you saved our lives, Vector." Charmy said.  
  
"Hey, you're my buds, all of ya!" Vector said, "We look out for each other, no matter what...and Espio, quit pickin' on Neela."  
  
  
  
What was going on topside at the moment....  
  
Adonna-Lyn watched the Dark Legionnares beneath the tree she was sitting in as they sifted through the bushes, looking for an entrance into FICC. To her, they looked like dire monks. She turned to John and asked, "So, what's their story, John?"  
  
John snuck a look down, then faced her and explained, "Long ago, before the very first Guardian of the Floating Island, two echidna scientists, Edmund and Demitri, proposed a plan to carefully reunite the island with the rest of Mobius. Their proposed device, the Chaos Syphon, would slowly drain the energies of the original 12 Chaos Emeralds and lower the island down. But with their plan untested, their petition to use the device was denied by the High Council of Echidnopolis. Edmund accepted the Council's decision...Demitri, however, did not."  
  
"Go on." Adonna-Lyn requested, after both of them were distracted by the snap of a twig.  
  
"So...long story short, Demitri became a powerful evil named Enerjak...but his dark citidel was destroyed...and Edmund became the first Guardian. Afterwards, technology was banned on the Floating Island." John continued, "However, there were those who held true to Enerjak's devotion to technology. So true, in fact, that they incorporated technology into their own bodies by means of cybernetic replacement. Thus, the Dark Legion was born."  
  
"That so?" Adonna-Lyn asked, "Do you really think these creeps know any of the major details about you?"  
  
"Well, if there are any survivors once we're through with 'em, we'll ask them." John said, getting suited up into his armor.  
  
But as Adonna-Lyn prepared to move onward, a branch snapped and she fell into the midst of the Dark Legionnares.  
  
"Well, now...what have we here?" one of the males said, leering at the fallen echidna princess.  
  
Adonna-Lyn, realizing that she was about to be overwhelmed, tried to leap away from their grasping hands...just as one of them aimed a hand at her and...mysteriously, Adon was pulled down and seized by the hooded hoard.  
  
"LET ME GO!" Adonna-Lyn shouted as she thrashed about, trying to get out of their grip, but some of them sported cybernetic hands or arms...which were quite strong, even against her advanced strength.  
  
"Sir, she doesn't appear to have a tail." one of the Legionnares pointed out.  
  
"Let me see." another legionnare requested. This one has a mechanical left eye, and a three-pronged, mechanical left arm. He seized Adonna-Lyn's right shoulder and turned her around hard. After finding no tail, a wicked grin spread across his face.  
  
"Shall we dispose of her, Lord Kragok?" one of the other legionnares asked, "With all due respect, m'lord, we should be looking for Project Dark Guardian."  
  
Kragok, the one with the mechanical left eye and arm, smacked the particular legionnare to the ground. "IDIOT! Why reclaim a flawed device...when we could use this Chandralite to clone an entire army of powerful, psychic, PERFECTED soldiers...an army that shall be provided by this female." he yelled.  
  
"I'd rather die." Adonna-Lyn spat at Kragok.  
  
"Either way will do." Kragok said gripping her chin hard with his cybernetic arm, "We need only samples of your DNA for our plans. After that, you will not be necessary. Shoot her."  
  
But as Adonna-Lyn winced, John lept down, roaring in full rage!  
  
Magmus and his newfound compatriots teleported into the forest, hearing the sounds of shouts and laserfire.  
  
"Whadya know...we're right on time." Blue Fang chortled.  
  
They waited until the laserfire came to a halt...and when it did, they saw a group of ten of the hooded terrorists standing there, John being held down by two of them, and Adonna-Lyn being held at...LIGHTSABER POINT?!  
  
"A Jedi?! Amongst those vermin?" Lady Screech hissed angrily.  
  
"Is there a real reason why the all-powerful Order of Darkness fears these pathetic Jedi wizards?" Jirrard asked, "They're nothing special."  
  
"My mate said the same thing...until of those 'Jedi wizards' rammed a De'kar stick blade right through his heart!" Screech snapped, "That a good enough reason for you?"  
  
"Hmph...whatever, heretic." Jirrard muttered while rolling his eyes.  
  
"Well, what are we just standing around for?" Blue Fang sniffed, "Let's see how the two young lovers are holding out."  
  
As Blue Fang and her vile vanguard joined the Dark Legionnares gathered there, John was being kicked in the face by Komissar, Kragok's sister.  
  
"Well, well." Kragok mused, "A Chandralite echidna female and Project Dark Guardian before us...this is turning out to be a rewarding day, may Lord Demitri be praised."  
  
"You mean that deranged lunatic?" John cursed, "If he actually succeeded in draining the emeralds' power, you and your psychotic followers wouldn't even be here, Kragok!"  
  
Komissar kicked John again, snapping, "SILENCE! I shall not have Lord Demitri be slandered like that, especially by some flawed weapon!"  
  
"Yeah...a flawed weapon you frikkin' jerks created!" John hissed at Komissar, "By the way, kick me again, and I'll strangle you with the power you bestowed upon this 'flawed weapon', you psycho-bitch!"  
  
"And if you do, I'll have this agent here slice this female's head off." Kragok snarled at John.  
  
"Why don't you just do so and get it over with?" Blue Fang said as she entered the clearing.  
  
"Actually, I would prefer it if you just left her alive and give her to..." Jirrard requested.  
  
"JIRRARD, SHUT IT!" Blue Fang and the other beings there shouted at him!  
  
John took notice of Magmus with Blue Fang and snorted, "Figures. Villainy deserves company, doesn't it, Magmus?"  
  
"Well, I truly held no ties to you or your group...either that, or you never really bothered to have me initiated." Magmus said with a smirk.  
  
"Let's just say John had some doubts about the veracity of your memory loss." Adon remarked.  
  
"Did anyone ask you to talk?!" the legionnare (in a female voice...WHA?!) snapped, smacking Adonna-Lyn with the handle of her lightsaber.  
  
John growled and tried to break free from the grip of the two legionnares holding him back, shouting, "Hit her again and I'll kill you, you little cyborg freak! YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL KILL YOU!!! DOES THAT COMPUTE, OR DO I HAVE TO DRAW YOU A SCHEMATIC?!"  
  
Magmus waved a hand at John...and the blue echidna felt pain coursing throughout his thrashing body! It was so intense, John unleashed an unholy roar into the darkness of the night!  
  
"Sorry. I was just getting tired of his damn yelling." Magmus admitted. He waved his hand again, and John stopped his thrashing, breathing heavily.  
  
"And now, to get what we came here for." Kragok chortled as he had a needle pop out of the palm of his cybernetic hand...just as it began melting!  
  
"What the devil?!" Kragok shouted.  
  
"Another prescence is here." the agent with the lightsaber replied, "I can feel it."  
  
"How observant." a male voice said...just as the agent got smacked in the back of her head with a scaly tail.  
  
"Hyro..." Magmus growled angrily.  
  
Hyro emerged from behind a tree and said, "In the scaly flesh, Magmus. The High Council has grown increasingly concerned in your inability to return the two Detrossians to our homeworld...and we were beginning to suspect treachery."  
  
"Oh, I've found them, Hyro...it's just that I've been granted with a vision of greatness." Magmus said.  
  
"Or a delusion of granduer." a legionnare whispered to another, resulting in a slight chuckle.  
  
"WHO THE HELL ASKED YOU?!" Magmus exclamined, slicing the partially mechanical echidna's head off cleanly with his sword. Screech, seeing the blood pouring from the corpse, rushed over and began drinking in the blood.  
  
"Anyway, I've come to take you back to Detrossa...and your future place amongst the northern pole's snow drifts!" Hyro stated.  
  
"Over my dead body, you will." Blue Fang insisted, stepping in front of Magmus, "He's now a member of MY group and as of right now, he's staying here with me!"  
  
"And who are you, my bold beauty?" Hyro asked.  
  
"Your executioner!" Blue Fang cackled as she extended one of her nails into a spear-like claw and fired it into the Detrossian's chest! Hyro fell backwards, screaming loudly as he tried to remove the sharp projectile from his person.  
  
Magmus came up towards Hyro, drawing his sword, wickedly hissing, "You've has this coming ever since Firion took you under his wing, you infidel. And now, vengence shall finally be mine!"   
  
But before Magmus even performed his death blow, a blast of sound hit him like fierce wind, sending him flying into Blue Fang and her cronies. "We interrupt this slaughter with a broadcast of Crocodile Rock!" Vector said, re-adjusting the volume of his headset.  
  
Mighty then added, "Looks like Espio's not the only lizard that's showing his true colors around here."  
  
"So...you never WERE interested in taking me back home." Neon said, "All that you wanted was to control this galaxy...and now you've teamed up with Blue Fang and her lackeys...I guess that we're going to have to be enemies, Magmus."  
  
"You, I've had ENOUGH of, you annoying female!" Magmus roared, preparing to cast an ice spell.  
  
As Magmus launched the spell, Neon began to wreath herself in flame, to defend herself. The spell hit the firewall...and wound up as heated water splashing into Neon's face, breaking her focus of her pyrokinesis.  
  
Screech took to the air and began launching a loud, vocal assault. Even the Dark Legionnares couldn't block out the god-awful noise. Adonna-Lyn took this moment to kick her captors in the face and getting herself free. She then fired two psychic bolts at the Legionnares holding John back, killing them instantly.  
  
"Thanks, Adon. Now to shut that squawker up!" John said as he cast Force-Lightning at Screech and brought her down.  
  
Espio said, "Well, the brawl's beginning. Let's not get left out!"   
  
The Chaotix joined in the fight, kicking both Dark Legion and Order of Darkness butt! Immediately, only Kragok, Komissar, their lightsaber-wielding agent, and a couple of scientists were left of the original 25 Dark Legionnares that were scouring the forest surroundings.  
  
Kragok, realizing how few his members were now, aimed his cybernetic arm past the brawl around them and opened up a dimensional portal...back to the realm where he and the other thousands of members of Demitri's cult were banished by the Guardians.  
  
But as Kragok guided his remaining followers back to the portal, the two scientists were cut down by John's dual-bladed lightsaber. He then blocked his agent and pulled her back from the portal, ordering, "You are staying behind and you will kill Project Dark Guardian. Understood?!"  
  
Even after watching the two scientists fall to the ground, their heads rolling away from their now-cauterized necks, the agent acknowledged and drew her lightsaber.  
  
Slowly but surely, the battle began to turn against Blue Fang and her group. Their side was sustaining damage that began to limit their movements (without yelling out in pain, that is), so the vixen enchantress rallied her dire crew to her, letting them know it was time to fall back and retreat!  
  
"Aren't we forgetting something?" Jirrard asked, "Our ship is still in the Enforcer's base!"  
  
"Easily remedied." Magmus snorted as he began a teleportation spell.  
  
FICC Docking Bay, 4:37 AM  
  
Magmus had brought them into the Crimson Howl and then reactivated the teleportation spell, which then put them outside of the Floating Island.  
  
Sleet quickly fired up the engines to his ship, seeing as the Crimson Howl was still powered down when it was in the Docking Bay. He then turned to Magmus and snapped, "Smart thinking, you dumb jerk! You could have waited until I got the engines on-line!"  
  
"For the moment, time allowed for nothing else." Magmus said, "Besides, we're still alive, aren't we?"  
  
Blue Fang smiled and said, "That, we are. Magmus, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."  
  
"Or our worst nightmare come true." Jirrard muttered.  
  
"Dark Sister, a word, if you please?" Lady Screech requested conspiratorily to Blue Fang in Chandralese.  
  
Blue Fang made sure that no one but her and her Dark Sister were in on whatever she wanted to discuss and asked, "What is it?"  
  
"It is about Jirrard." Lady Screech said, "I was granted a vision...and it concerns the desert prince and his infatuation with that cursed princess, Adonna-Lyn. The fates are not about to be kind...to either of them."  
  
Blue Fang grinned and said, "Do tell."  
  
Jirrard shouted, "What are you two going on about back there?!" Jirrard never studied ancient Chandralese, which Blue Fang and Lady Screech knew flawlessly.  
  
"NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!" Blue Fang and Screech shouted at him back!  
  
Back on the Floating Island...  
  
The agent ran from John. She would not...could not be defeated by the one the Dark Legion called "Project Dark Guardian". And for that to happen, she would have to catch him off guard...then hack him to bits.  
  
With that in mind, she climbed up a tree and patiently awaited her quarry to arrive.  
  
"Miss me?" a voice said behind her...just as the hum of a lightsaber was heard. Knowing her prey was now up with her in the tree, she whipped out her lightsaber and quickly blocked the Enforcer's red, dual-bladed lightsaber!  
  
"Not bad...but not good enough!" the Enforcer said as the young agent and he began to hack, block and parry at each other. John, deep down, was quite amazed of how strong the Force was in the agent...  
  
Then without warning, the Enforcer took over and sliced at the branch the agent was standing on, sending her crashing to the ground. "What the hell was that for?" John shouted.  
  
"For...self-defense..." the Enforcer hissed, "She threatened Adonna-Lyn and..."  
  
"BULLSHIT!" John snapped, "You just want to kill her for the hell of it!"  
  
"So true..." the Enforcer said with a grin as he jumped down to continue the fight. He used a Force-push to slow his descent...and also ripped the hood off of the agent, revealing her to be...A MOBIAN CAT? She had blue eyes, a moon-shaped...thing...on her forehead, and, oddly enough, had a few dreadlocks.  
  
"What devilry is this?" the Enforcer asked...just as the agent screeched and kicked him in the face! The agent brought her lightsaber back into her hands and began to fight back viciously. From what John sensed, she was on the borderline of falling to the Dark Side of the Force.  
  
But she was merely a novice...HE was a MASTER!  
  
Neon quickly inspected the new Detrossian, Hyro. Where Blue Fang's spear-nail hit...it skewered his left lung. Much to her relief, he was still alive.  
  
"So...you are the lost one." Hyro said, looking up at her.  
  
"The other, I believe you mean, is my pet, Caylis." Neon said as she gripped the spear.  
  
Hyro grunted a bit in pain. "Easy there. I'm damaged goods here." he said, smiling at Neon a little.  
  
With one swift pull, Neon yanked it out of Hyro, much to his disdain. She then turned to Neela and said, "Neela, you and Mighty get him down to the Medical Bay and see if you can get him fixed up. The rest of you, we gotta give John a helping hand."  
  
The Enforcer grinned. Even with all this little upstart's skill in the Force and with a lightsaber, she was beginning to falter. Within very little time at all, they were at the edge of the Floating Island.   
  
The agent teetered a bit on the edge, then quickly recovered her balance. She knew she was being outmatched, and she began to sweat.  
  
But as she wildly waved her lightsaber about, hoping to land SOME damage on her fierce opponent, he sliced at part of her lightsaber...namely, the part that produced the invincible blade of light.  
  
She felt the grip of the Enforcer's hand around her neck and felt herself being held over the edge.  
  
"You've got some explaining to do, Dark Legionnare!" John hissed, "What do you know about Project Dark Guardian?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" the agent replied, "The Dark Legion created you to be the ultimate weapon in creation...hopefully, leading to an army of powerful, obedient clones...however, they found a flaw in you. For some reason, you developed a conscience, something that was never intended for the project."  
  
"Damn you!" John growled, shaking her in his grip, "You part-machines consider a conscience a FLAW?!"  
  
"Since when should a weapon more powerful than a blaster develop the knowledge between right and wrong?" the agent choked, "The Dark Legion's top geneticists were going to erase your memory and start anew...that is, until you killed them."  
  
"They would have killed us both, regardless of how powerful we are!" The Enforcer roared in her face, "And yes, you heard right. WE! This form holds two distinct personalities, the wimpier self...AND WHAT IT ATTEMPTS TO HOLD BACK!"  
  
"John! Let her go!" Neon called out. She and the others were right near where John was, keeping a respectful distance, seeing as he was not in control of his body.  
  
"And why should I? It's because of what her kind has done that I am the way I am...A RAGING, PSYCHOTIC WEAPON!!!" John/the Enforcer roared, bolts of Force-Lighting coursing through his arm and into the agent, causing her to scream out loud as the pain was inflicted upon her.  
  
"John, if you don't release her, I will never speak to you again!" Adonna-Lyn shouted at him.  
  
Then, as if something had reached inside and pulled something out of him, John let the agent go softly onto the ground. "Adon?...Adon...what have I done...?" John asked, tears falling from his eyes, the blue echidna curling up into a ball and weeping.  
  
The agent hissed in disgust and snapped, "That's the flaw I'm talking about! This...THING...is a disgrace to life forms everywhere! If it wasn't for people like you...you WARPED BUNCH...he would be perfect!"  
  
"Hey, who're you callin' warped?!" Vector shouted, "You don't see me stickin' wires into me like a damned robot...no offense, Heavy."  
  
"None registered, Vector." Heavy replied.  
  
"That, and following some madman who would have destroyed this whole island, killing everyone who lived here." Espio added, "If anything, the only warped bunch around here is you and your fanatical cult!"  
  
"Oh....TO HELL WITH ALL OF YOU!!!" the agent yelled as she pulled out a blaster rifle and got ready to fire.  
  
John, however, used a Force-push before she even squeezed off a shot, launching her over the edge and falling away from the island. "No more...no more...." John muttered, "I...don't..."  
  
Adonna-Lyn, realizing what John was meaning, sat down next to him and put her arm around his shoulder. "John...it's going to be alright...it's going to be alright...."  
  
A while later, back in FICC...  
  
"I do want to apologize for this whole mess I've caused all of you." Hyro said, "It was my fault that Magmus came here. Deep down, I did hope that some good in him would surface...apparently, I thought wrong. I only wish I could make it up to you."  
  
"Well, for starters, how about a little truth on Magmus, huh?" Vector asked, "Other than he's a snobbish, deceitful, egg-sucking son of a snake, we practically know squat about him!"  
  
"He was raised by my master, Firion. He wanted to train Magmus in the ways of magic. Magmus, apparently, didn't have that much of an interest in Firion's teachings. When my master found me and tried to make Magmus focus harder on his teachings, he started studying books filled with darker forms of magic...and then he murdered Firion." Hyro explained.  
  
"Great...great! Another psychopath in this world to deal with!" Espio snorted.  
  
"Neon, if you want, I'll take you back to Detrossa with me. For once in your life, you'll get to know the world you have been away from for so long." Hyro offered.  
  
"That reminds me...how did I wind up on Mobius?" Neon asked.  
  
"Well, there was a slight cataclysm on our world...and as a ditch effort, we sent many eggs throughout the galaxy, trying to protect the young ones in them. Many of them were recovered...but only a rare few were found and taken from their original spots, and as a result, were not returned immediately to Detrossa." Hyro explained to the best of his knowledge, "I'm sorry if you suffered any sort of trauma while you were here on Mobius."  
  
"And you think being Robotnik's doormat wouldn't traumatize her?" Espio remarked.  
  
"Neon, the choice is yours." Hyro posed to her, "You can stay here, on the world you've called home for your many years...or, you can return to Detrossa, the world of your origins."  
  
Neon looked at her friends, her employer...then finally said, "Hyro...I guess I could spend a little time on Detrossa, to get to know the world that I originated from."  
  
"Neon, you could use a little vacation from here." John said, "Take as much time as you need."   
  
Neon smiled and hugged John, saying, "Thank you, John...and I forgive you for yelling at me earlier."  
  
"We're gonna miss having you around, Neon." Vector said, sniffling a little, "I mean, who else is going to beat Espio at pool and make him look like an idiot?"  
  
"Very funny, croc." Espio muttered.  
  
"The place just won't be the same without you, Neon." Charmy said, hugging Neon's head a little.  
  
"I'll make sure your room is kept in top order, Neon." Heavy offered..."Oh, great...I think I'm going to rust my optic sensors."  
  
Bomb just let out a loud wail and hugged Neon's legs.  
  
"Guys, I'm only going to gone for a little while...and I could always pay you guys a visit every now and then." Neon laughed, about to go to tears herself.  
  
"Neon, as long as you have the memories of us, you'll always have us with you." Adonna-Lyn advised.  
  
"Neon, if you don't mind, I'm going to open the dimensional portal leading back to Detrossa." Hyro said, chanting several odd-sounding words...and creating a portal.  
  
"Neon...I know we haven't gotten along in the past, but...may the Force be with you." Neela said.  
  
"See you around...and thank you guys!" Neon said as she scooped up Caylis into her arms and joined Hyro. The portal closed behind her, leaving John and his loyal followers there, saddened by her departure.  
  
Vector then said, "Well, that was fun. Who's up for Ithorian grub...you know, comfort eating."  
  
Meanwhile, in Blue Fang's lair....  
  
"Magmus, with the blood of Chandralite royalty, I welcome you to the Order of Darkness and initiate you into our ranks." Blue Fang said as she painted dark green blood into arcane symbols on Magmus' chest, "And with this blood, you shall be protected from the far reaches of your homeworld, their portals closed. This spell has a ten foot radius, and any other Detrossian prescence that comes within that range will be in for a world of hurt."  
  
"Good." Magmus said, "I pity Hyro, or that annoying Neon if they try to take me back to Detrossa...ALMOST!"  
  
"Now all of you get some rest. It won't be long until the Dark Legion procedes to the next phase of their plan." Blue Fang instructed, "And Jirrard...put a band-aid over that, will you?!"  
  
"Well, you're the one who cut me for your stupid spell and..." Jirrard protested.  
  
"ENOUGH! I command you to shut your noise-hole!" Blue Fang snapped.  
  
With that, Magmus went to a part of the lair where Dingo had carved out when Sleet made him into a digging machine. As he entered his particular part of his lair, Rieko left the inside of his pocket and said, "Siding with the Enforcer's enemies...honestly, Magmus, do you have a death wish?!"  
  
"He is merely a roadblock in my path to claiming this galaxy as my own." Magmus chortled, "Remove him from the picture and his followers will be easy prey...I...I feel something...Neon has departed for Detrossa..."  
  
"Then we've failed, Magmus. Northern pole of Detrossa, here we come." Rieko whined.  
  
"Thanks to Blue Fang, that will be very unlikely." Magmus said with a grin, "Now that the Enforcer's 'bodyguard' is out of the way, his last defense against me has failed. Beware, Enforcer....beware..."  
  
Epilogue:  
  
  
  
Kenny was in the middle of a meditative trance, wrapped up in the very essence of the Force...when he felt something. A disturbance in the Force...it felt like a fellow Jedi...but there was darkness about this person...and she (she?) was coming in fast!  
  
"How odd." Kenny said as he got up and walked over to a certain point...just as the figure fell into his arms. Kenny was surprised. It appeared to be a Mobian cat...but she had several dreadlocks on her...but overall, she was very pretty.  
  
Immediately, Kenny took this girl over to Dave's hut. He knocked on the door. Dave opened the door. Kenny smiled and said, "She fell into my arms. Can I keep her?"   
  
"She fell from the Floating Island, Kenny...and she's wearing the robes of the Dark Legion." Dave said, "I thought you more learned than that!"  
  
"But I sense the Force in her...Dave, I'd like to make her my Padawan learner!" Kenny said excitedly.  
  
"First thing's first, Kenny." Dave said with a frown, "Let's remove these cybernetic parts from her...it could possibley break her ties to the Dark Legion and help to guide her back to the Light side of the Force."  
  
A few moments later...  
  
"Oh, good! She's coming to!" Kenny cheered.  
  
"Calm yourself, my former Padawan." Dave said, "Young lady, can you hear me?"  
  
With a slight groan, the cat awoke and put her hands on her head...and was surprised not feel any metal or wires, or anything of the cybernetic nature. She looked up, saw Dave and Kenny standing there, and asked, "Who are you? Where am I?"   
  
"Take it easy. I'm Dave the Hedgehog, and this is Kenny the Vampire Bat. We are both Jedi. Now, who are you?" Dave asked.  
  
"I...I remember! I'm Hanako Fairhall!" she said happily, "The Dark Legion...they..."  
  
Her face suddenly reflected her horror! "The Dark Legion! They're going to war with MOBIUS!"  
  
THE END?....  
  
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COPYRIGHTS  
  
John the Enforcer, Adonna-Lyn, Neela, and other characters are copyright of John Fadeley  
  
Dave the Hedgehog and Kenny the Vampire Bat are copyright of David Fadeley  
  
Neon Dragon, Rieko, Magmus, Hyro, and the world of Detrossa and its peoples are copyright of Emma Goodman  
  
Hanako Fairhall and her background are copyright of Hannah Lupton  
  
Mobius and its peoples and characters are copyright of Archie Comics, Sonic Team, Sega, and DiC  
  
Star Wars characters, weapons, and the Force are copyright of Lucasfilm and 20th (or should it be 21st...hmm) Century Fox  
  
All Nintendo related characters are copyright of Nintendo and all associating companies.  
  
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SPECIAL THANKS  
  
First and certainly foremost, I'd like to thank Emma Goodman for the permission and information on her many wonderful characters and for all the moment-inspiring artwork she has done to help make "The Enforcer Saga" come to life. You are #1, Neon!  
  
To Hannah Lupton: Thank you for letting me introduce Hanako into the Saga. I shall certainly look forward to using her in the chapters to come.  
  
To David Fadeley: Thank you, brother, for letting me use the Gold Jedi and his padawan-turned-Knight in this fanfiction. Continue to follow your dreams.  
  
To the major media companies: Thank you for providing the media of which have inspired a great deal of my fanfiction. Keep up the good work.  
  
To the Almighty: Once again, God, I thank you for giving me the strength to deal with life and the talent to write this fanfiction. Please be with all of us as we continue to put an end to terrorism in this world.  
  
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The Dark Legion is prepared to begin a war of conquest on Mobius, starting with the Floating Island! Can they be stopped before their plans are put into action?  
  
Find out next time in "The Enforcer Saga, Chapter 9: A Dark Offensive." Don't miss it! 


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